Delhi Daredevils claimed the top spot on IPL table by defeating beleaguered Kolkata Knight Riders in Durban on Tuesday (May 5). Daredevils crushed Knight Riders by 9 wickets and became one of the favourites to play in the semis of the league. After winning the toss, Knight Riders elected to bat first and posted a total of 154 runs in their allotted 20 overs. Skipper Brendon McCullum and Morne van Wyk gave a good start to the Kolkata team. McCullum scored 35 off 29 balls while van Wyk garnered 74 off just 48 deliveries.

 

Chasing 155 runs to win, skipper Gautam Gambhir cracked his first half century of the tournament to win the match for Delhi Daredevils. Gambhir scored 71 runs from 57 balls with seven fours and remained not out till the end. Apart from him, David Warner (36) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (42 not out) made ample contributions. Knight Riders team lost the match because of their sloppy fielding. Gambhir was dropped twice on 21 and 65. Even skipper McCullum could not hold together an easy chance.

 

With seven loses in the tournament, Kolkata Knight Riders are almost out of semifinal contention. The Kolkata team is placed at the bottom of the eight-team table with only three points. The team performed very badly on Tuesday night, the fielding was disastrous. As many as four catches were dropped and innumerable misfeilds gave away few extra runs to the opponent team.