Dinesh Karthik dares Chennai Super Kings

Dinesh Karthik scored a quick-fire half-century to set up a fighting 179-run target against Chennai Super Kings here at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground on Monday.

Karthik's 36-ball 51 along with a late blitz by in-form JP Duminy (17-ball 28) and Kedar Jadhav (18-ball 29) gave hosts a reason to smile.

It was Karthik's 71-run partnership for the third wicket alongwith his Tamil Nadu teammate Murali Vijay, which provided Delhi a platform to set up a competitive total after losing Quinton de Cock and skipper Kevin Pietersen in the space of just three deliveries.

Earlier, Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni invited the hosts to bat first on what he described a "sticky" Kotla pitch. Dhoni fielded an unchanged side with a clear intention to extend his five-match winning streak.

Delhi, on the other hand with just two wins to show from six outings so far, brought back Laxmi Ratan Shukla for Rahul Sharma. Table-toppers Chennai's only loss was in their opening encounter against Kings XI Punjab.

Delhi got off to a good start, piling up 36 runs in four overs, but lost momentum after a throw by Ravindra Jadeja left De Cock stranded in the middle. And when Mohit Sharma clean bowled skipper Pietersen, it looked as if this is going to be yet another flop show for the struggling Daredevils.

Karthik took control of the situation by dispatching Ravindra Jadeja to a six and four in the ninth over. Two overs later, he picked Mohit for the similar treatment and then Hilfenhaus in the 13th over. But the Aussie speedster managed to laugh on the final ball when Mohit took a fine catch near the square leg umpire to get rid of dangerous looking Karthik.

Delhi slipped once again when Shukla and Vijay fell in quick succession. It was left to Duminy and Jadhav finally to take Daredevils past the 150-run mark.