Delhi Daredevils thrash Rajasthan Royals to occupy to spot

Virender Sehwag slammed the season's fastest half-century so far to guide Delhi Daredevils to the second Indian Premier League victory over Rajasthan Royals by six wickets on Monday.

Earlier, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala's unbeaten 53 saved Rajasthan Royals the blushes as the 2008 champions fumbled and faltered their way to 141/6.

Put into bat, Rajasthan Royals looked in a mess before Jhunjhunwala's 60-run stand with Paras Dogra (29) sort of steadied the ship.

Jhunjhunwala's unbeaten 53 came off 45 balls with five fours and a six in it but the Royals could never break free as most of the Daredevils bowlers maintained a stifling line and length.

The Rajasthan Royals began with Swapnil Asnodkar (5) putting away the first ball of the innings for a delectable four before his opening partner Graeme Smith (18) hit Farveez Maharoof for two boundaries in that high-yielding over.

Dirk Nannes, however, had other ideas and his very second delivery saw Asnodkar's back with an agile Tillakaratne Dilshan taking a smart, low catch at backward point.

Next man in Nama Ojha (24) took the Daredevils attack by the scruff of its neck before his unbridled aggression brought his peril.

The stumper-batsman hit Maharoof for two fours in the third over before Daredevils captain Gautam Gambhir pressed leggie Amit Mishra in service.

Ojha gently patted back the first Mishra delivery before going berserk, hitting back-to-back boundaries and then following it with a clean hit that cleared the long on ropes.

Mishra settled the score with the next delivery as a clueless Ojha lost his stumps to a perfectly disguised googly.

Despite Maharoof going for runs, Gambhir persisted with the lanky Sri Lankan, who responded by removing the dangerous Yusuf Pathan for a duck, an anti-climactic innings by the towering swashbuckler whose 37-ball 100 against Mumbai Indians was the first century of this year's IPL.

Pathan, foxed by Maharoof's slower delivery, went for a swish and AB de Villiers took a well-judged catch in the deep.

Four runs later, Smith was on his way back to the pavilion when a fumbling Virender Sehwag pouched his mistimed pull off Pradeep Sangwan in his third attempt.

Smith's dismissal meant the first 50 runs cost the Royals four top order batsmen in just over eight overs.

Jhunjhunwala and Dogra stemmed the rot, playing conventional cricket even though it meant nearly six overs without a boundary.

They had just started to open up when an almighty mix-up with Jhunjhunwala ended Dogra's stay, ending their 60-run stand in just over eight overs and the Royals did not get the later burst that could have taken them past the 150-mark.

 Delhi Daredevils Innings

Batsman Delhi Daredevils(142/4 in 17.1 ovs) Runs Balls 4's 6's SR G Gambhir(c) c G Smith & b D Mascarenhas 9 8 1 0 112.5 V Sehwag c G Smith & b M Patel 75 34 8 5 220.59 T Dilshan c N Ojha & b D Mascarenhas 0 1 0 0 0 AB De Villiers c (sub)F Fazal & b S Warne 15 24 0 0 62.5 D Karthik(wk) Not out 23 26 2 0 88.46 M Manhas Not out 11 10 1 0 110 F Maharoof dnb 0 0 0 0 0.00 P Sangwan dnb 0 0 0 0 0.00 A Mishra dnb 0 0 0 0 0.00 S Ladda dnb 0 0 0 0 0.00 D Nannes dnb 0 0 0 0 0.00 Extras b - 1, lb - 3, w - 5, nb - 0, Total - 9 Total:(142 for 4 in 17.1 overs)   142 Run Rate: 8.27 Fall Of Wickets 1/42 (Gautam Gambhir, 3.3 ov.), 2/42 (Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3.4 ov.), 3/99 (Virender Sehwag, 9.6 ov.), 4/114 (AB de Villiers, 12.3 ov.) Bowler 0 M R W Nb Wd ER Dimitri Mascarenhas 4 0 31 2 0 0 7.75 Shaun Tait 4 0 26 0 0 4 6.5 Munaf Patel 3 0 32 1 0 0 10.67 Amit Uniyal 2 0 25 0 0 0 12.5 Shane Warne(c) 4 0 22 1 0 0 5.5 Abhishek Jhunjunwala 0.1 0 2 0 0 0 11.76 Rajasthan Royals Innings Go to Top Batsman Rajasthan Royals(141/6 in 20 ovs) Runs Balls 4's 6's SR S Asnodkar c T Dilshan & b D Nannes 5 4 1 0 125 G Smith c V Sehwag & b P Sangwan 18 17 3 0 105.88 N Ojha(wk) b A Mishra 24 14 4 1 171.43 Y Pathan c AB de Villiers & b F Maharoof 0 5 0 0 0 A Jhunjunwala Not out 53 45 5 1 117.78 P Dogra runout (A Mishra) 29 26 1 2 111.54 D Mascarenhas runout (D Karthik) 3 3 0 0 100 A Uniyal Not out 4 6 0 0 66.67 S Warne(c) dnb 0 0 0 0 0.00 M Patel dnb 0 0 0 0 0.00 S Tait dnb 0 0 0 0 0.00 Extras b - 0, lb - 0, w - 5, nb - 0, Total - 5

Total:(141 for 6 in 20 overs)   141 Run Rate: 7.05

Fall Of Wickets 1/14 (Swapnil Asnodkar, 1.2 ov.), 2/45 (Naman Ojha, 4.5 ov.), 3/46 (Yusuf Pathan, 5.5 ov.), 4/50 (Graeme Smith, 8.1 ov.), 5/110 (Paras Dogra, 16.2 ov.), 6/115 (Dimitri Mascarenhas, 17.1 ov.)

Bowler 0 M R W Nb Wd ER Farveez Maharoof 4 0 32 1 0 1 8 Dirk Nannes 4 0 27 1 0 1 6.75 Amit Mishra 4 0 34 1 0 0 8.5 Pradeep Sangwan 4 0 20 1 0 2 5 Sarabjit Ladda 4 0 28 0 0 1 7

Umpires: Rudi Koertzen (RSA) & Russell Tiffin (Zim)

Third Umpire: Brian Jerling (SA)

Match Referee: Andrew Pycroft (Zim)