Delhi Daredevils ended the four-match winning streak of the Chennai Super Kings with a comprehensive eight-wicket win in the Indian Premier League match at the M Chidambaram Stadium on Friday.
The win opened up the tournament and ensured Chennai, Delhi and Rajasthan share the top spot in the table with four wins and a defeat each, and only separated by net run-rate.
Captain Virender Sehwag (71) and the in-form Gautam Gambhir (50) laid the foundation for the Delhi win with an opening wicket partnership of 115 off just 68 balls.
Sehwag was his usual aggressive self, hitting seven boundaries and four massive sixes in his 41-ball knock, while Gambhir again outlined his credentials in this version of the game with his third half-century in five games.
Joginder Sharma, Dhoni's lucky mascot broke the stand by having Sehwag caught by Muralitharan and 24 runs later Gambhir was cleaned up by Gony, but AB de Villiers (26 not out) and Shikar Dhawan (19 not out) saw their team through with an over to spare.
Earlier, Sivaramakrishnan Vidyut celebrated his first match of the Indian Premier League with a quick-fire 54 off 37 balls to steer Chennai Super Kings to a competitive 169 for six against Delhi Daredevils.
Vidyut, who hit seven fours and one six in his 54, proved a perfect replacement for Australian Michael Hussey and his third wicket partnership of 57 runs with his skipper MS Dhoni was the highlight of the match.
With experienced Glenn McGrath bowling a tidy line and length, the hosts began at a sedate pace with openers Parthiv Patel and Stephen Fleming not being able to play big shots.
But once Stephen Fleming was out cheaply for 13, clean-bowled by Yo Mahesh, Vidyut and Patel did not allow the Delhi bowlers to dominate and the duo shared a 43-run second wicket stand and raised their team's 50 in the seventh over.
After Patel was holed out to a good catch by Yo Mahesh at short third man off Sehwag after making 21 (20 balls; 3 fours), Dhoni, though not at his explosive best, maintained the brisk pace of scoring in company of Vidyut.
When Dhoni came in at the fall of Patel, Vidyut was batting on 25 but runs came in at a faster pace and the duo scored 50 runs in just 31 balls, sharing the spoils equally.
Vidyut reached his 50 off 31 balls but made his exit with the addition of another four runs as he came out to drive McGrath only to top-edge to Yo Mahesh at the cover area.
Soon, Dhoni, who was dropped by de Villiers at covers, walked back to the pavilion being caught at long off by Shoaib Malik off Mohd. Asif and Suresh Raina was ran out by Pradeep Sangwan before Albie Morkel did some fireworks scoring 28 off 16 balls to take the Chennai score just one run shy of 170.
For the visitors, five bowlers -- McGrath, Sehwag, Asif, Yo Mahesh and Bhatia -- took one wiicket apiece.
