Warner century sets up Delhi's thumping win

Daredevils inflict 40-run defeat on Knight Riders to jump to fourth spot

Riding on Warner’s unbeaten 107 in 69 balls, the highest score of IPL III, and Paul Collingwood’s 45-ball 53, Delhi posted a commanding 177 for four and then restricted Kolkata to 137 for nine to register their first win at home and brighten their semifinal hopes.

Chasing 178 to win, Kolkata lost too many wickets upfront and never looked to be in the chase. Chris Gayle (30) and David Hussey (29) top-scored for the Kolkata team but it was not enough as they lost half their side inside 100 runs.

Earlier, Warner fired nine fours and five sixes and added 128 runs for the fourth wicket with Collingwood to resurrect the Delhi Daredevils innings after they were left tottering at 38 for three at one stage.

Andrew McDonald scalped three and Umesh Yadav picked up two wickets while Dirk Nannes, Rajat Bhatia, Amit Mishra and Collingwood accounted for one victim apiece to contribute in their team’s win at the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium here.

Kolkata were off to a disastrous start as they lost skipper Sourav Ganguly (5), Mandeep Singh (0) and last match’s star Manoj Tiwary (0) in quick succession to be left reeling at 21 for three in 4.2 overs.

Gayle tried to keep the scoreboard ticking and clobbered McDonald for a four and a six in the second over, before hitting him for a six and four in the fifth over.

The West Indies opener, who was dropped by Virender Sehwag at 24, however, didn’t last long as he gave a catch to Amit Mishra at deep mid-wicket off Rajat Bhatia in the ninth nover to see Kolkata slip to 50 for four in 8.1 overs.

David Hussey and Angelo Matthews (24) tried to resurrect the innings and stitched 35 runs off 32 balls but once the former was gone, defeat was evident for the Knight Riders.

Earlier, electing to bat, Delhi had a shaky start as they lost three quick wickets — Virender Sehwag (8), Gautam Gambhir (1) and Dinesh Kaarthick (0) — within three overs but Warner played a devastating knock.

The Australian, however, had a heartbreak at 96 when Murali Kartik pulled of a stunning catch off his own bowling in the 18th over but much to the dismay of the Kolkata team, the ball had kissed the ground as Warner got a life and went on to celebrate his century
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For Kolkata, Gayle opened the bowling and after being hit for a couple of fours, dismissed the dangerous Sehwag.

Back in the side, Charl Langeveldt then got into the act and caught skipper Gautam Gambhir, who was playing his first match after recovering from injury, plumb in front of the wicket to reduce  Delhi to 21 for two in two overs.

Warner was in unstoppable mood  and with Collingwood blossoming in the final overs, runs came at torrent for the home side.

Score Board
Delhi Daredevils: David Warner (not out) 107, Virender Sehwag st Saha b Gayle 8, Gautam Gambhir lbw Langeveldt 1, Dinesh Kaarthick b Ishant 0, Paul Collingwood c D Hussey b Langeveldt 53, Kedar Jadhav (not out) 4. Extras (W-3, NB-1) 4. Total (for 4 wkts, 20 overs) 177.

Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-21, 3-38, 4-166.

Bowling: Chris Gayle 4-0-38-1, Charl Langeveldt 3-0-35-2, Ishant Sharma 1-0-17-1, David Hussey 4-0-24-0, Angelo Mathews 2-0-11-0, Murali Kartik 4-0-26-0, Ajit Agarkar 2-0-26-0.

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS: Chris Gayle c Mishra b Bhatia 30, Sourav Ganguly b Nannes 5, Mandeep Singh  st Kaarthick b Mishra 0, Manoj Tiwary b McDonald 0, David Hussey c Gambhir b Yadav 29, Angelo Mathews b Yadav 24, Wriddhiman Saha (not out) 20, Ajit Agarkar c & b Collingwood 17, Murali Kartik (run out) 1, Charl Langeveldt b McDonald 0. Extras (B-2, LB-3, W-5, NB-1) 11. Total (for 9 wkts, 20 overs) 137.

Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-20, 3-21, 4-50, 5-85, 6-102, 7-134, 8-137, 9-137.

Bowling: Dirk Nannes 3.1-0-15-1, Andrew McDonald 4-0-37-2, Amit Mishra 4-0-18-1, Rajat Bhatia 4-0-28-1, Umesh Yadav 4-0-27-2, Paul Collingwood 0.5-0-7-1.