Delhi Daredevils 145-4 (David Warner 79, Venugopal Rao 21*, Ryan Harris 2-19) beat Kings XI Punjab 141-8 (Siddharth Chitnis 38, Azhar Mahmood 36, Morne Morkel 4-20) by 6 wickets.

Delhi Daredevils proved their superiority in the IPL 2012 by striking against Kings XI Punjab with their enormous power.

Kings XI Punjab scored 141 runs for the loss of 8 wickets after a poor start early in the innings and Delhi Daredevils attained the target by hammering 145 runs with six wickets in hand while consuming 18.2 overs.

Umesh Yadav (Delhi Daredevils) was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his initial burst of 3-19 runs in four overs.

The 69^th match of the Indian Premier League 2012 was played at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala, on Saturday, May 19, 2012.

Earlier, the stand in captain of Delhi Daredevils, Mahela Jayawardene, won the toss and offered the batting to the rival team with a vision to get them out cheaply. His decision paid off instantly as Kings XI Punjab had a clumsy start by losing their top four wickets for 20 mere runs in 5.5 overs. Their prominent batsmen who surrendered early, included the skipper Adam Gilchrist, Mandeep Singh, Paul Valthaty and David Hussey. The fast bowlers of Delhi Daredevils, especially Umesh Yadav made life difficult for them in the beginning and Morne Morkal was also unplayable.

Siddharth Chitnis and Azhar Mahmood tried to repair the huge loss suffered earlier and the latter collected 13 runs in the 10^th over with 3 fours. Chitnis was the most aggressive of the two and Azhar supported him well from the other end. The fifth wicket partnership produced 57 runs in 8.2 overs when Siddharth Chitnis lost his wicket for 38 off 32 balls with 1 six and 5 fours.

The fifth wicket fell at 77 runs as the emerging youngster, Gurkeerat Singh, came in the centre and opted to attack by getting a four in the 15^th over followed by one six in the next over. He got a life on the first ball of the 17^th over when dropped by Varun Aaron at fine leg off Andre Russell and carried on by dispatching three consecutive fours as Azhar Mahmood got two in the same over.

They shared 45 quick fired runs in four overs as Morkel took over and got rid of Azhar on the first ball of the 19^th over. He was gone for 36 off 38 deliveries with 1 six and 4 fours and Gurkeerat Singh was clean bowled two balls later for 26 off 11 balls with 1 six and 4 fours as Piyush Chawla was removed on the last ball of the over for one. Kings XI Punjab managed 141 runs with two wickets in hand at the end of the 20^th over and recovered from a disaster.

Morne Morkel was the chief destructor with four wickets, Umesh Yadav grabbed three and Andre Russell chipped in with one wicket.

Delhi Daredevils opened the innings with the hard hitting opener, David Warner and the youngster, Unmukt Chand as they initiated the innings by scoring 10 runs in the first over with a six from the willow of Warner. Chand joined him with couple of sixes in the following overs as Warner murdered Parvinder Awana for 23 runs with three huge sixes and a couple of fours though he was dropped on the last ball of that over.

Warner achieved his fifty on the first ball of the eighth over which was completed on just 25 balls with 4 towering sixes and 5 fours. The openers climbed at 82 off nine overs when Unmukt Chand became the first victim after scoring 18 runs off 24 balls with 2 fours. David Warner carried on with the assault by hitting two fours each in the 11^th and 12^th overs but was finally caught by Mandeep Singh at point off Ryan Harris for 79 from just 44 balls with the help of 4 lofty sixes and 10 sweetly timed fours.

Delhi Daredevils required 24 runs from 30 balls with seven wickets still in hand as Venugopal Rao eased the target by dispatching 10 runs in the 16^th over with one six and a four. He remained unbeaten for 21 off 19 balls with one six and two fours as Naman Ojha punished Azhar Mahmood for a four on the second ball of the 19^th over and attained the target by plundering 145 runs for the loss of four wickets with 10 balls to spare.

Ryan Harris and Azhar Mahmood shared the honours of the bowling by claiming two wickets each.

Points earned by both teams at the end of the 69^th match of the IPL 2012:

Delhi Daredevils – top on the chart with 22 points from 16 games at a net run rate of +0.617.

Kings XI Punjab – 16 from 16 games at a net run rate of -0.216.