Devils’ workshop

The Devils’ juggernaut continued to roll on as Deccan ran out of charge at Kingsmead here on Wednesday night. The Delhi side bowled well in the death to eke out their eighth win in 10 games to march ahead in the points table.

With 16 points, Virender Sehwag’s Devils are virtually in the semifinals. The Delhi bowlers applied themselves well and their discipline in the final overs brought about the downfall of the Deccan Chargers, who failed to capitalize on good knocks from skipper Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds. Delhi, defending 173, won by 12 runs. Rajat Bhatia emerged as the unlikely hero. The young right-arm medium pacer finished with dream figures of 4 for 15 in just 2.4 overs.

Earlier, AB de Villiers (44), Dinesh Karthik (44 n.o.) scored the bulk of the teams’ runs. A late charge from wicketkeeper Karthik boosted Delhi’s total.

Karthik’s 23-ball unbeaten 44 included three sixes, including a couple off Chaminda Vaas in the last over. He got support from Tillakaratne Dilshan (37) and De Villiers, both of whom survived dropped chances. Dilshan scored a quickfire 18-ball 37 that included seven fours and a six and added 50 runs off 29 balls with Gautam Gambhir (19 off 35 balls) after David Warner (4) fell early.

Dilshan was lucky to see Rohit Sharma drop him at slip off RP Singh. The Sri Lankan, at eight then, made Deccan pay heavily. He clouted SM Shoaib for 24 runs in an over, including two unusual hits over the wicketkeeper’s head. His innings finally came to an end when Ravi Teja caught him at long on off Andrew Symonds. The Aussie was a trifle unlucky after Teja failed to hold on to a difficult chance offered by de Villiers soon after. But the Australian all-rounder was himself culprit when he dropped Virender Sehwag at zero off Dwayne Smith.

The Delhi Daredevils skipper, who dropped himself down the order, came to the crease after Gambhir holed out to Venugopal Rao. Sehwag struggled to get into the groove and perished while trying to hoist Vaas out of the ground. This time though Symonds was alert to the situation and Sehwag departed after scoring just 11 from 10 balls.

De Villiers, who was dropped on seven, went on to compile 44 before he too departed, caught in the deep. The South African hit Smith for two successive fours in the 17th over but fell trying one too many. His 36-ball knock included four boundaries and a six.