DURBAN, (Reuters) – Medium pacer Rajat Bhatia sparked a collapse by capturing four wickets as Indian Premier League leaders Delhi Daredevils beat the Deccan Chargers by 12 runs yesterday.
Bhatia ran through Delhi’s tail by taking four for 15 as the Chargers, chasing 174 to win, lost their last seven wickets for 12 runs and were bowled out for 161 despite a swashbuckling 64 from Adam Gilchrist.
The victory strengthened Delhi’s position at the head of the IPL standings with the Daredevils three points ahead of the Chennai Super Kings.
Gilchrist’s knock, and an aggressive innings of 41 off 22 balls from fellow Australian Andrew Symonds, looked to have given Deccan the edge before Bhatia, and left-arm swing bowler Pradeep Sangwan who took three for 18, altered the course of the match.
Dinesh Karthik was at the forefront of Delhi’s batting as he carved his way to 44 not out off 23 balls while AB de Villiers also struck 44 in a total of 173 for seven.