Delhi Win By 105 Runs

Watson steers Jaipur into the finals

The much anticipated clash turned out to be a no-contest as Jaipur stormed into the finals of the Indian Premier league with a comprehensive 105-run win against Delhi on Friday.

Virender Sehwag after electing to field was pushed on to the back-foot early in the game and he was forced to stay there for the entire match as Jaipur walked all over Delhi, first with the bat and then with the ball. Shane Watson (52 and three for 10) was once again the hero of the show as he top-scored for Jaipur and then took three wickets to rip the heart out of Delhi’s batting.

After posting a mammoth 192-9 with some audacious strokeplay, Jaipur’s bowlers were on the money from the word go and it took all of 16 overs to knock-out Delhi for a paltry 87.

Delhi buckle under pressure

A stiff 193-run target was always going to be a mountain to climb for Delhi but once they had lost their top three for 24 runs, the task was too demanding for the middle-order. Watson broke Delhi's backbone when he sent back Sehwag (three), Gautam Gambhir (11) and Shikhar Dhawan (five) with just 24 runs on the board.

And it was always going to be downhill from there as Manoj Tiwary (zero), Farveez Maharoof (six) and Dinesh Karthik (10) failed to put on a fight. Tillakaratne Dilshan (33) stood his ground for a while but he too crumbled under pressure. Eventually, the game finished on humiliating lines for Delhi as they lost their last five wickets for just 12 runs.

Munaf Patel (three for 17) and Warne (two for 20) along with Watson proved too hot to handle as Jaipur booked a much deserved spot in the final two.

Jaipur willows flow and flourish

Though Delhi managed regular breakthroughs but they could not halt Jaipur’s surge, who never allowed the scoring-rate to sag. And it was once again Jaipur’s men-in-form who came good in the crunch game. Graeme Smith (26), Swapnil Asnodkar (39), Watson (52) and Pathan (45), all came to the party at a belter in Wankhede to give Delhi a mountain to climb.

The Jaipur batsmen pulled out everything from the drawer as audacious strokeplay along with chancy shots kept the score moving at a neck-break speed. And if it was not for a superb last over by Mohammad Asif, the target for Delhi could have been well over 200.

Blazing beginning

Smith pulled a hamstring while taking a quick run and was almost run out. But the injury turned to be a boon for Jaipur as the southpaw opened his shoulders to smash the Delhi attack. Even the ever-reliable Glenn McGrath was taken to the cleaners as Smith bludgeoned three consecutive boundaries in the Aussie’s third over.

Asnodkar from the other end was his blazing self, manufacturing some of the most astounding shots. After being dropped by Farveez Maharoof off Yo Mahesh’s first ball, Asnodkar smacked the first six of the game two deliveries later.

And just when it seemed the Jaipur openers will run away with the game, Maharoof redeemed himself for the dropped catch.

Maharoof turns it around

With bowlers getting flayed all over, it took brilliance in the field for Delhi to bounce back in the game. Smith’s cameo came to an end when Shikhar Dhawan took a blinder in the deep and one ball later Asnodkar’s fierce square-cut sent the ball right down Manoj Tiwarys' throat.

Jaipur’s surprise move to send Sohail Tanvir (five) failed as the Pakistan player could manage only one lusty blow before he became Maharoof’s third victim.

Watson whacks, Pathan pounds

But Delhi lost the momentum as quickly as they had gained it. Watson came to the middle with all guns blazing. The all-rounder in a space of two overs pounded three towering sixes as the Delhi bowlers ran for cover. Yo Mahesh, who gave away 50 runs in his full quota, was taken for 21 in the 11th over.

After Kaif was bowled by Amit Mishra for 12, Pathan joined Watson and from there began a tremendous surge by Jaipur. The duo went for everything with not the slightest of inhibition in their batting.

Pathan was at his powerful best, striking the ball as cleanly as ever and clearing the boundary ropes with far too much ease for Virender Sehwag’s comfort.

With Jaipur piling on the runs, Watson went on the all-attack mode and after a 28-ball 52, Mishra finally cleaned up the Aussie. But Pathan was in no mood to relent as the audacious Pathan took McGrath for 16 in the pacer's last over. The hard-hitting player hit three boundaries and four sixes in his 21-ball knock till he was run out in the last over of the innings.

Preview Semi-final 1, Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Daredevils

A high-octane contest between two well-balanced sides is on the anvil when table toppers Rajasthan Royals take on the confident Delhi Daredevils in the first semi-finals of the Indian Premier League here on Friday.

The two teams, which finished first and fourth in the preliminary 56-game phase of the Twenty20 league, look evenly matched ahead of what promises to be a top-drawer stuff in front of a capacity crowd at the Wankhede Stadium.

The team that holds its nerves better and grabs chances that come its way would go through to the summit clash against the winners of the second semi-final, on May 31, between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings.

The Shane Warne-led Jaipur, impregnable at home, had finished with only three losses from their 14 preliminary phase ties and have a 1-1 head-to-head record against the Daredevils, led by Virender Sehwag, who got into the last four with seven wins and 15 points to their credit.

Both had lost their matches to hosts Mumbai Indians when they visited this metro earlier and those ties were held in DY Patil Stadium. Both must be wishing fervently that a change in venue for this knock-out tie would bring in happy tidings.

Both the teams have depended on their top-order to fire well and pile up a big total, and middle orders of both the sides looked a bit under-prepared when chips were down.

They would be keen to topple the top three rival batsmen cheaply to gain a big advantage.

Tracks at the Wankhede for the IPL have helped the seam bowlers by providing lateral movement and extra bounce and someone of the calibre of Delhi Daredevils' champion bowler Glenn McGrath would relish rolling his arm over here.

The battle between McGrath, with support from Sri Lankan Farveez Maharoof and V Yo Mahesh, and Rajasthan's successful innings launchers Graeme Smith (416 runs) and Swapnil Asnodkar could be crucial to the game's outcome.

The same applies to the Sohail Tanvir-Shane Watson-Munaf Patel combine who will be up against the marauding Delhi opening pair of Gautam Gambhir (523) and Sehwag (403), as well as another in-form batsman at number three, Shikhar Dhawan.

Tanvir, with his extra quick bowling arm action, has been a real revelation in the IPL and has hardly been collared by any rival batting line-up, indicated by his superb haul of 21 wickets at just 10 runs per victim.

The left-armer has been outstanding both in the beginning and at the death and is a major threat that needs to be negotiated well by the Delhi batsmen who did not play against him in the previous two clashes.

Rajasthan possess a better spin attack in the great Warne and his understudies Yusuf Pathan and Dinesh Salunkhe while Delhi depend on Amit Mishra, for the most part, with Sehwag chipping in with his off breaks. But seam bowlers are expected to play a bigger role at the Wankhede.

Delhi have had a sizable break of five days going into the tie while Rajasthan, without a few key players including Warne, were outclassed by Punjab King's XI on Wednesday.

Winning the toss and fielding first has become the order of the day for matches which commence at 8 pm and the trend is likely to continue on Friday.

It has been largely rain-free so far in Mumbai, barring light drizzles, and the IPL authorities must be hoping that the weather remains clear over the next few days.

The high prevailing humidity, however, is not only uncomfortable for the players but also an indicator that rains are around the corner.

IPL Kings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals

Marsh ton conquers Rajasthan

Kings XI Punjab beat Rajasthan Royals by 41 runs in the last league match of the Indian Premier League at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Wednesday.

The win, Punjab's 10th in 14 matches, had no effect whatsoever on the league standings though. Rajasthan, despite suffering what was their third loss in 14 matches, finished on top of the table with 22 points, two ahead of second-placed Punjab.

Scorecard

Chasing a mammoth 222 to win, and with Graeme Smithand Swapnil Asnodkar being rested, Rajasthan got off to a terrible start losing Mohammad Kaif (1) and Younis Khan (3) inside five overs.

Niraj Patel (57) and Shane Watson (22) put on 49 runs for the third wicket before the former, who was again impressive in his 39-ball knock that contained 10 boundaries, was cleaned up by Piyush Chawla.

Watson also fell to Chawla, while trying to accelerate, but thereafter Yusuf Pathan (39) and Kamran Akmal (24) treated the crowd with some exquisite hitting.

The brief stand (33 runs) ended when Akmal, whose eight-ball knock included a four and three huge sixes off Sreesanth, became Chawla's third victim.

Rajasthan needed 61 runs off the final three overs, and that, proved to be a tough ask, much tougher than their initial target.

Yusuf Pathan's 15-ball knock, that contained three hits to the fence and three huge ones over it, was brilliantly caught by Shaun Marsh off James Hopes in the penultimate over. Hopes also caught Dinesh Salunkhe (6) off his own bowling in the same over.

Rajasthan needed 44 off the last over from Irfan. And they got just two.

IPL coverage

Rajasthan ended at 180 for seven.

Earlier, Marsh notched up his maiden IPL century to power Kings XI Punjab to a massive 221 for three.

The left-handed Australian was in a furious mood and punished all the rival bowlers to all corners of the park as he produced a scintillating 115-run knock off just 69 balls.

His amazing century, sixth of the tournament, was studded with 11 fours and seven sixes.

Marsh went back to the hut in the last over while trying to smash Watson for a big shot.

Skipper Yuvraj Singh's late blitzkrieg helped the team get past 200 run-mark. He hit a blazing 16-ball 49-run cameo before getting run out on the last ball of the innings.

The Punjab southpaw smashed two four and half a dozen sixes, including three consecutive in Siddharth Trivedi's over and shared a 80-run stand with Marsh for the second wicket.

Earlier, Marsh together with opening partner Hopes (51), who hit an elegant half-century, provided a rollicking start to the Punjab team after being sent in to bat by rival skipper.

Together they put up 133 runs for the opening wicket, which was best for the Kings XI Punjab in the tournament.

Marsh was at his best as he displayed an array for mesmerising shots all around the park.

The left-handed Aussie played furious cut shots, elegant straight and cover drives, fierce pulls and raced away to his sixth half-century of the tournament in just 27 balls.

He pulled leg-spinner Salunkhe for a boundary on the leg side to get to his fifty and in the process became the highest run-getter in the tournament.

All the bowlers were at his mercy as he hit them at will, giving enough headache to Watson, who was leading the side in the absence of Shane Warne.

He brought up his hundred after facing 58 balls when he got a single off Pankaj Singh's over, 17th of the innings.

Hopes did not get much strike initially and played a second fiddle to Marsh yet played an important part in laying the strong foudation for the big score.

Hopes opened up later and hit paceman Trivedi for three consecutive boundaries in the 11th over to bring the 100 for the hosts off just 63 balls.

He then lofted Yusuf Pathan for a huge six on the leg side in the 12th over and stole a couple a ball later to reach his third IPL fifty consuming just 30 balls.

However he fell to the same bowler when he tried to hit him for the maximum, did not connect well, and ended up in the hands of Salunkhe in the deep.

But by then he added 133 runs with Marsh in 13.4 overs, decimating the rival attack with his individual 35-ball 51-run knock, including seven fours and a six.

IPL Bangalore Royal Challengers v Mumbai Indians

Fernando inspires consolation win

Mumbai Indians put up an all-round display to end their Indian Premier League campaign with a thumping nine-wicket victory over Bangalore Royal Challengers Wednesday. The win though came late for Mumbai Indians, who went out of the semifinal contention after losing three close games in a row, which made them dependant on other teams' losses to reach the last four. Scorecard Set to chase a paltry 123 to win, Sanath Jayasuriya (54 off 37) and Sachin Tendulkar (40 not out) made it a lopsided contest and reached the target with 12 balls to spare. The experienced duo paced their innings beautifully, punishing the bad deliveries. Jayasuriya smashed four sixes and four boundaries while Tendulkar batted around him without taking any risks. The match was reduced to 18-overs a side after rain delayed the start by an hour and a half. The lacklustre Bangalore Royal Challengers finished their campaign at the seventh place in IPL points tally. Dilhara Fernando, who gave away 15 runs in the last over in their must-win match against Rajasthan Royals to see his team lose, was the pick of the bowlers Wednesday, taking four wickets that cost just 18 runs in his quota of four overs. Fernando bowled a controlled spell and restricted the Bangalore Royal Challengers to a low score. Shaun Pollock and Ashish Nehra bowled a disciplined line to Bangalore openers. They made scoring difficult for openers Shrrevats Goswami (20) and Mark Boucher (18). IPL: Full coverage Fernando was all fire right from the start and took three wickets for three runs in his first two overs to rock Bangalore's start. From 35 for no loss, the hosts were reduced to 39 for three. The damp outfield conditions made scoring difficult for the batsmen. The pressure of losing three early wickets meant Bangalore had hit only five boundaries in the first 10 overs. Cameron White (26) hit two fours and a six in Dhawal Kulkarni's second over that cost 18 runs. Devon Smith removed White in the next over and Bangalore then lost few quick wickets. R Vinay Kumar (23) and Anil Kumble (11) boosted the scoring late down the order.

Sachin is enjoying captaincy

New Delhi: Team India captaincy may have been a crown of thorn for Sachin Tendulkar but the Indian Premier League has been a completely different experience and the champion batsman says he is thoroughly enjoying skippering the Mumbai Indians in the ongoing Twenty20 extravaganza.

Tendulkar, who had two rather forgettable stints as Team India captain, said he was feeling good to be back at the helm.

"It has been good," Tendulkar told reporters on Friday, on the eve of the Mumbai side's crucial IPL encounter at the Ferozeshah Kotla. "I've enjoyed being out in the middle and it feels quite good as I'm leading after a long time," he said.

A groin injury kept him out of the first half of the IPL and former South Africa skipper Shaun Pollock stepped forward as the makeshift captain.

Finally back to the action, Tendulkar said the presence of two former international captains -- Pollock and Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya -- have made his job easier.

"With Shaun and Sanath's help, it has become easy. In fact all the players are thinking about solution to the various problems we face on the field and chipping in with ideas," Tendulkar said.

He also felt that his return to the side has lent more balance to the top order. "I think the experience factor was lacking in the top order and Shaun and Sanath had too much responsibility on their shoulders. Now that I'm back, the responsibility got shared among us," he explained.

The Mumbai captain looked determined to erase the memories of their last match defeat against Kings XI Punjab and said he was not looking back. "You still have a lot of cricket to be played. After the first four matches too, people had a lot of opinions about us but we tried to play well and the same effort would be there."

"We don't want to look back. Even when we were on the winning streak, we didn't think about past matches and the outlook would remain same," he said.

On Saturday's match, Tendulkar said the idea would be to remove Delhi Daredevils skipper Virender Sehwag and run-machine Gautam Gambhir cheaply.

"I have played a lot with both of them. They are quality players and quite dangerous too. Efforts would be to send them back quickly because they are the two key players, who have scored most of the runs for the side."

Asked if Saturday's match would see a renewal of his well-documented battle with former Australian spearhead Glenn McGrath, Tendulkar said, "I've always maintained that the match is played among 22 players and not just two individuals. What eventually matters is how 11 members of a particular side fare."

Tendulkar also said that Pollock was recovering fast from a stiff back. "He is getting well and I think he would be fit for Saturday's match," he said.

Asked if there was any difference in the pressure of playing for the country and an IPL franchisee, Tendulkar said his intensity never dips, irrespective of opposition and occasion. "I always hold the bat thinking of scoring runs, whether I'm playing in the IPL, for India or against my son. I love the game and respect it and give my best whenever I play."

He said he never shies away from any challenge, rather confronts it. "When you embrace challenge, it becomes fun. The more you try to run away from it, the more it would chase you."

On the IPL, Tendulkar said it was his gut feeling that the Twenty20 extravaganza would prove a hit. "I always felt IPL would be a success. You have all the top players, it's a shorter version and fast-paced -- I knew people would enjoy it."

"But I still feel Test cricket is ultimate and people should enjoy that. I don't think ODI would be much affected by the IPL." Asked if age could be a factor in this format, Tendulkar said, "I've said it time and again that it's not age but performance and form that eventually matter."

Source : MSN News

IPL Match 47: Kings XI Punjab v Deccan Chargers

Another Victory For Punjab Kings

Shaun Marsh and Kumar Sangakkara were involved in a classy opening stand that ensured a six-wicket victory for Mohali against Hyderabad in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the PCA Stadium here on Friday.

The left-handed pair recorded the fastest half-century by a team (3.5 overs) in the tournament and their 84-run stand provided the buffer to chase down a target of 176 with ease in a match of little consequence as they had virtually qualified for the semifinals before this match and Hyderabad were already out of contention.

Promising Aussie batsman Marsh notched up his fifth half-century, a 46-ball knock of 60 seeing him smash three sixes and as many fours. For a change, Marsh was content playing second fiddle to Sangakkara, who notched up the second fastest fifty of the tournament, taking two balls more than Jaipur all-rounder Yusuf Pathan’s record of 21 deliveries.

The Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batsman played quite a few inside-out shots in his seven fours and two sixes. Sangakkara was caught at long-off to part-time spinner Rohit Sharma. Yuvraj Singh was also caught in the deep a little later and the wickets of Marsh and Luke Pomersbach (13) saw the team slip to 149-4.

Just when the pressure seemed to be creeping up, Piyush Chawla eased it with a six off the first ball of the 19th over bowled by Scott Styris, who later in the over bowled a full toss down the leg side for Mahela Jayawardene to dispatch with ease over the square-leg boundary and virtually seal the win, which finally came with three balls to spare.

Earlier, Rohit Sharma capitalised on a fluent opening partnership between Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs to help Hyderabad set a challenging 176-run target.

Sharma continued his superb run, slamming a quick-fire 50 that was spiced with four sixes and three fours and came off just 27 deliveries. Sharma, who plays for Mumbai in domestic cricket, once took 21 runs off an over from Gagandeep Singh, including two well-timed sixes.

Sharma’s blitz followed a superb start from openers Adam Gilchrist (50) and Herschelle Gibbs (44), who figured in a brisk 79-run stand that formed the bedrock for a total of 175-4.

Gibbs used his feet well during a 34-ball 44, hitting three fours and three sixes, twice dancing down the pitch to leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, hoisting him over long-on and straight to the sight-screen. He also once smashed three consecutive fours off Sreesanth. Gibbs fell to pace bowler Gagandeep Singh while trying a pull, but his partner Gilchrist continued to dominate.

The Aussie left-hander struck six fours and a six off Yuvraj during his third fifty of the tournament. He was bowled playing across the line to Ramesh Powar after having just been let off on the previous delivery by wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara off the spinner.

Mohali had virtually ensured a semifinal berth after a thrilling one-run victory over Mumbai in their previous match with eight wins in 11 matches while Hyderabad were already out of reckoning before this match with just two wins in as many outings.

Sangakkara was back for Mohali while Gagandeep replaced Irfan Pathan. Hyderabad brought back Sanjay Bangar and Gibbs.

In their previous match, Marsh (84 not out) had ensured a comfortable seven-wicket win for Mohali

The teams:

Mohali: Yuvraj Singh (capt), Shaun Marsh, Luke Pomersbach, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Tanmay Srivastava, Ramesh Powar, Piyush Chawla, Gagandeep Singh, VRV

Singh, S. Sreesanth.

Hyderabad: Adam Gilchrist (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, Rohit Sharma, Scott Styris, Venugopal Rao, Ravi Teja, Sanjay Bangar, Chamara Silva, RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Vijaykumar.

A Royal shock for the Super Kings!

With Bangalore Royal Challengers out of the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL), the only thing left for them in the tournament is to end proceedings with some respectability. However, their match against the Chennai Super Kings was going to be baptism by fire, as the Super Kings have been playing well in the tournament, and would have wanted to win desperately to qualify for the knock-out stages.

The Royal Challengers won the toss and elected to bat first on a rain-affected pitch, and that was a brave decision made, especially given that batting second is usually a good option in a night encounter. The Challengers also made three changes to their side, getting in Virat Kohli, Mark Boucher and Vinaykumar in place of the injured Zaheer Khan, an out-of-form Cameron White and Bharat Chipli. On the other hand, the Super Kings went in without any changes to their playing XI.

The Bangalore Royal Challengers had a different opening combination this time - their ninth - in the form of Jacques Kallis and Shreevats Goswami, but it took Manpreet Gony only four deliveries to get rid of Kallis. The South African scored only five, making it a woeful tournament for him so far. Player of the Match in the last game, Goswami then got dropped by Stephen Fleming, but he did not last too much longer, gone for 10. Interestingly, the umpire had declared Goswami 'not out', reckoning that he had not edged the ball, but Goswami walked. Bangalore were limping to 23/2 in the sixth over.

If this was not enough, Muralidaran came onto bowl and got rid of Virat Kohli, brilliantly caught by Albie Morkel at deep square leg for 10. The Challengers then slipped into further trouble as Lakshmipathy Balaji got one to nip slightly away and got the edge of Misbah's bat giving Parthiv Patel an opportunity to show some smart glove work. The Challengers were at a dismal 41/4 at the half way mark!

With this kind of a start, it was obviously going to be a difficult ask to expect a big score, and the next few overs went for only some singles and the odd boundary. It was only in the 15th over that there were a couple of boundaries that were hit by Boucher - off the bowling of Morkel - but, that again was too good to last. Boucher was given out leg before for 17. At this stage, Bangalore was 76/5 in 15 overs. Dravid battled on - he has been the only one from Bangalore through this tournament doing so - and reached 47 (39 balls), before he got out trying to up the ante.

Praveen Kumar, who has not had a great tournament with either the bat or the ball, did hit some good shots to clear the fence in the last couple of overs, but the Challengers could manage only 126/8 in their stipulated 20 overs. Incidentally, no other team has scored lower than Bangalore's 126 after batting the full quota of 20 overs.

A score of 127 was never going to test any team in this format of the game, unless the bowling team got some early wickets. The Challengers did bowl a couple of good overs to begin with - which went for only seven - but after that it was a free fall. Steyn went for 20 in his second over, whereas Indian medium pacer Praveen Kumar conceded 13 runs. Kumble came onto bowl within the Power Play, and did manage to stem the radical flow of runs, but the wickets were not forthcoming.

Chennai Super Kings were 44/0 in the six overs, and 56/0 at the end of the eighth. They did have a chance to get a wicket down, but Kumble and Dravid kept circling under the ball without catching it, and that summed up the story for the Challengers.

Kumble did get a wicket finally - of Parthiv Patel - in strange circumstances, caught and bowled off the non-striker's shoulder, and this brought Dhoni onto the crease. However, it was not to be his day, as he also perished pretty early to get the Challengers a distant chance. Fleming then got bowled off a no-ball, but failed to make any use of this 'life' as he popped up a catch to square-leg. This was immediately followed by S Badrinath's demise at the crease, plumb in front off Kumble and Bangalore were back in it; Chennai's casual approach getting them to 89/4 in 14 overs.

At this stage, Dravid brought back his premier pace bowler, Dale Steyn, back, and this is where the match turned on its head. Steyn first got rid of Albie Morkel off a short ball which the batsman tried to pull, only to be caught at the fence. After this, S Vidyut attempted another such pull shot, and all he did was to spoon it up to the short mid-on position, where Jacques Kallis dived and caught a superlative one; Chennai looking in deep trouble with the score reading 93/6 in 16 overs, needing 34 off four.

Kallis conceded five, but Praveen Kumar gave away 10 in his first three deliveries to turn the match in favour of the Super Kings. Kumar retorted back with a short ball, that Gony pulled straight into the hands of mid-on. Needing 18 off the last two overs, Dravid took a bold decision to bowl Steyn's last over, and try and get wickets, instead of preserving him. This got him rich dividends, as Steyn gave away only two runs under pressure in an over that included Balaji's run-out. The last over was delivered by Praveen Kumar, and he ensured that the Super Kings were never going to get 16 runs to win the match for his Royal Challengers! The Super Kings had lost a match, which they would have won 99 times out of 100. This proved to be the 100th occasion!

Anil Kumble was adjudicated the Player of the Match for his superb bowling spelling of 3/14 off 4 overs. Chennai remain at 14 points in 12 matches, whereas the Royal Challengers finally move away from their 4 points to make a step up to 6 ahead of the Deccan Chargers.

IPL Match 44 : Rajasthan Royals Vs Kolkata Knight Rider

Yusuf Pathan On Fire Again
Yusuf Pathan and Mohammad Kaif forged an unfinished 81-run partnership as Rajasthan Royals confirmed their semi-final berth with an easy six-wicket victory over a lacklustre Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday.
Pathan (48 not out off 18 balls) and Kaif (34 not out off 31 balls) took the game away from the Knight Riders during their rollicking 42-ball stand after the hosts posted a modest 147 for eight in the face of a disciplined bowling performance from the league leaders.
Full Scorecard
Pathan, who played a hurricane knock studded with five fours and three sixes, ended the game in style with a boundary off pacer Umar Gul as the Royals reached 150 for four with 21 balls still remaining.
The Royals, now on 18 points from 11 outings, registered their ninth win of the tournament, while the Knight Riders' hopes of making the last four shrunk further with the defeat. The Sourav Ganguly-led side remain on 10 points after 12 ties.
Set an easy asking rate of 7.4, the Royals lost the young Swapnil Asnodkar (5) early before South African Graeme Smith and Sohail Tanvir came together in the middle to pull their team out of trouble.
The two came down hard on Ajit Agarkar in the fifth over, plundering 16 runs, with Tanvir smashed a four and a six adding to the boundary picked up by Smith as the visitors seemed comfortably placed at 42 for one after five overs.
At this stage, Ganguly turned to pacer Umar Gul, who replaced injured Shoaib Akhtar in the side, and the Pakistani pacer immediately gave a dramatic twist to the game by sending back both the batsmen in the next over.
Gambhir first batsman to amass 500 runs Top performers
First, Tanvir (13) holed out to mid on and three balls later wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha took an out-of-the-world one-handed catch diving full length to his right as Smith got a faint edge to one heading down the leg stump.
It was a wicket maiden and with the Royals score reading 42 for three in six overs, the match seemed wide open.
Shane Watson seemed in fine flow, as he punished Agarkar with a six and a four in the ninth over and proceeded to play Ganguly past the third man fence in the next over.
But Ganguly fought back two balls later as he got one to come in to the Australian who attempted a slog, missed it and saw his off-stump uprooted.
Earlier, put in to bat, the Knight Riders could not build even a single partnership of substance.
For the hosts, skipper Sourav Ganguly top scored with 32 but he was nowhere at his best.
Middle-order bat Debabrata Das (31 off 20) looked to be in fine nick, but got out when his team expected a big knock from him.
With none of the other batsmen making an impression and the Knight Riders ended up with a total that failed to test the rampant Royals, who sealed their semi-final berth with the win.
For the victorious Royals, Sohail Tanvir claimed 3-26 and Munaf Patel 2-22.

IPL Match 43 : Bangalore Royal Challengers v Delhi Daredevils

Result Delhi Daredevils won by 5 wickets (with 10 balls remaining)

	Bangalore Royal Challengers innings (20 overs maximum)			R	B	4s	6s	SR
		JH Kallis	c Karthik b Maharoof	25	21	3	1	119.04
		B Chipli	c Bhatia b McGrath	2	10	0	0	20.00
		SP Goswami	c Dilshan b Maharoof	52	42	7	1	123.80
		R Dravid	b Dilshan	9	11	1	0	81.81
		Misbah-ul-Haq	not out	47	25	2	4	188.00
		CL White	run out (Maharoof/sub [Shoaib Malik]/Karthik)	1	2	0	0	50.00
		B Akhil	run out (Sehwag/Maharoof)	3	3	0	0	100.00
		P Kumar	b McGrath	2	5	0	0	40.00
		Z Khan	not out	4	1	1	0	400.00
		Extras	(w 9)	9
		Total	(7 wickets; 20 overs)	154	(7.70 runs per over)

Did not bat A Kumble, DW Steyn

Fall of wickets1-31 (Chipli, 4.5 ov), 2-41 (Kallis, 6.1 ov), 3-73 (Dravid, 10.6 ov), 4-102 (Goswami, 15.1 ov), 5-105 (White, 15.6 ov), 6-122 (Akhil, 17.4 ov), 7-126 (Kumar, 18.5 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	GD McGrath	4	0	15	2	3.75	(1w)
	P Sangwan	3	0	51	0	17.00	(3w)
	VY Mahesh	4	0	25	0	6.25	(1w)
	MF Maharoof	4	0	13	2	3.25
	R Bhatia	4	0	47	0	11.75
	TM Dilshan	1	0	3	1	3.00

	Delhi Daredevils innings (target: 155 runs from 20 overs)			R	B	4s	6s	SR
		G Gambhir	run out (White/Goswami)	39	31	6	0	125.80
		V Sehwag	c Chipli b Kumar	47	19	9	1	247.36
		AB de Villiers	c Goswami b Steyn	21	25	1	0	84.00
		TM Dilshan	st Goswami b Kumble	4	10	0	0	40.00
		S Dhawan	not out	16	13	1	1	123.07
		KD Karthik	c White b Kumble	6	4	1	0	150.00
		MF Maharoof	not out	13	8	1	1	162.50
		Extras	(b 1, lb 6, w 5)	12
		Total	(5 wickets; 18.2 overs)	158	(8.61 runs per over)

Did not bat R Bhatia, VY Mahesh, P Sangwan, GD McGrath

Fall of wickets1-90 (Sehwag, 6.6 ov), 2-100 (Gambhir, 8.6 ov), 3-121 (Dilshan, 13.4 ov), 4-123 (de Villiers, 14.2 ov), 5-132 (Karthik, 15.3 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	DW Steyn	4	0	26	1	6.50
	Z Khan	3	0	37	0	12.33	(1w)
	P Kumar	2	0	33	1	16.50
	JH Kallis	2	0	16	0	8.00
	B Akhil	3.2	0	21	0	6.30
	A Kumble	4	0	18	2	4.50

Toss Delhi Daredevils, who chose to field first Points Delhi Daredevils 2, Bangalore Royal Challengers 0 Twenty20 debut SP Goswami (Bangalore Royal Challengers) Player of the match SP Goswami (Bangalore Royal Challengers) Umpires SJ Davis (Australia) and GA Pratapkumar TV umpire SL Shastri Match referee Talat Ali (Pakistan) Reserve umpire VN Kulkarni

Match notes

• Bangalore Royal Challengers innings
• Bangalore Royal Challengers: 50 runs in 7.4 overs (50 balls), Extras 8
• Bangalore Royal Challengers: 100 runs in 14.3 overs (92 balls), Extras 9
• SP Goswami: 50 off 39 balls (7 x 4, 1 x 6)
• Bangalore Royal Challengers: 150 runs in 19.5 overs (124 balls), Extras 9
• Innings Break: Bangalore Royal Challengers - 154/7 in 20.0 overs (Misbah-ul-Haq 47, Z Khan 4)

• Delhi Daredevils innings
• Delhi Daredevils: 50 runs in 4.2 overs (27 balls), Extras 10
• 1st Wicket: 50 runs in 27 balls (G Gambhir 25, V Sehwag 15, Ex 10)
• Delhi Daredevils: 100 runs in 8.6 overs (55 balls), Extras 10
• Delhi Daredevils: 150 runs in 17.4 overs (107 balls), Extras 12