Virender Sehwag-led Delhi Daredevils won their last league match defeating Mumbai Indians by 4 wickets at Centurion on Thursday (May 21). Chasing a victory target of 166 runs, Daredevils got off to a rollicking start with opener Warner (15) and Gautam Gambhir (47) hitting the Mumbai bowlers to all parts of the park. Gambhir's knock of 47 runs came in just 38 balls. After Warner's departure, Daredevils skipper Virender Sehwag joined the party and immediately started to attack the bowlers.

 

Sehwag and Gambhir put on to a partnership of 68 runs for the second wicket. Daredevils reached the score of 104 in just 11 overs. Sehwag smashed 50 off 27 balls and thus put an end to all sorts of criticism regarding his bad batting form in the tournament. After the dismissal of Gambhir, Tillakaratne Dilshan(24) joined Sehwag but both of them got out in back-to-back deliveries of 15th over and Daredevils were reduced to 144 for four. After few overs, Delhi team got further blows by losing AB De Villiers (6) and Rajat Bhatia (2) in quick succession.

 

By then it was too late for Mumbai Indians as Amit Mishra hit the winning runs to guide his team to victory in 17.3 overs. Earlier, Mumbai Indian posted a total of 165 runs in their allotted 20 over after being sent to bat first by skipper Sehwag. From Mumbai Indians Ajinkya Rahane scored 56 off 41 balls while Sachin Tendulkar garnered 46 runs. Mumbai Indians could not got off to a good start as they lost three quick wickets of Sanath Jayasuriya (0), JP Duminy (9) and Mohammad Ashraful (2) in 4.3 overs. However, Tendulkar and Rahane repaired the early damages and helped the team to post a decent total. Pinal Shah (12) and Harbhajan Singh (12) also played some good shots in the end.

 

With this victory, Daredevils topped the IPL table with 20 points from 14 match followed by Chennai Super Kings (17 points), Bangalore Royal Challengers (16 points) and Deccan Chargers (14 points). Delhi Daredevils will now play against Deccan Chargers in the semi-final today while Super Kings will take on Royal Challengers in other semi-final that will take place tomorrow (May 23).