Sports News: Daredevils crush Riders, regain top spot

Daredevils crush Riders, regain top spot

Delhi Daredevils produced a clinical performance to crush Kolkata Knight Riders by seven wickets in their Indian Premier League (IPL) tie at Johannesburg on Sunday. Chasing a meagre 124 runs, Daredevils romped home in 17.1 overs with AB de Villiers (seen here) smashing 40 after David Warner (36) and Gautam Gambhir (18) laid the foundation. With the emphatic win, Daredevils moved to the top of IPL standings with 14 points in nine matches, dislodging the Chennai Super Kings. Knight Riders again lost their way in the batting with Amit Mishra claiming three wickets, though Sourav Ganguly (44) and Ajit Agarkar (39) gave the bowlers something to defend. The total was always going to be too small for a strong batting side like Daredevils. Daredevils got off to a fine start through Warner (seen here), who struck five fours and one six, and skipper Gambhir.They put on 53 runs in 40 balls. Knight Riders sensed an opening as Gambhir and Warner fell within a space of two overs and then Tillekaratane Dilshan was out to a brilliant piece of catching by Moises Henriques in the deep. But de Villiers and Dinesh Karthik (seen in action during his innings of 17 not out) carefully negotiated the middle overs even as a few catches and run-out chances went abegging.De Villiers then hit a flurry of strokes to finish the match. Earlier, Knight Riders made another shocking start, losing two wickets in the very first over.Skipper Brendon McCullum hit a second-ball six off Ashish Nehra, before his bad patch caught up with him and he was out lbw off the next ball. Three balls later, Brad Hodge edged to de Villiers at first slip for a golden duck.Morne van Wyk gave his wicket away to Dirk Nannes and soon a familiar script was unfolding for Knight Riders. Two overs in the match and they had lost three wickets with just nine runs on the board. Ganguly and Yashpal Singh (seen during his innings of 13) tried to stem the rot, adding 36 runs. The inconsistent Knight Riders middle-order though cracked under pressure, as they returned to the pavilion playing some poor shots off leg-spinner Mishra. Mishra struck with two wickets in his first over - Yashpal and Wriddhiman Saha - and Knight Riders were struggling at 46 for five. Henriques became became Mishra’s third victim.Ganguly batted with resolve while Agarkar threw his bat in the end to take Kolkata past 100. But in the end the late flurry proved in vain.