Delhi Daredevils beat Bangalore Royal Challengers by five wickets in their Indian Premier League match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday.

Scorecard

It was Delhi's sixth win in 12 matches and kept alive their chances of reaching the last four. For Bangalore, who are already out of the race, it was their ninth defeat in 11 matches.

Chasing a target of 155, Delhi began aggressively with captain Virender Sehwag [Images] (47) and Gautam Gambhir [Images] (39) putting on 90 runs for the opening wicket in just seven overs.

Sehwag was in a belligerent mood as he smashed nine boundaries and a six in his 19-ball knock. He was particularly severe on Praveen Kumar.

Slideshow

The latter had the final word though, taking the prized scalp, thanks to a splendid catch by Bharat Chipli.

Two overs later and after the addition of 10 more runs, Gambhir, who had earlier become the first batsman in the tournament to surpass 500 runs, was run out by Cameron White.

And then there was a wobble.

Tillekeratne Dilshan (4), AB de Villiers (21) and Dinesh Karthik [Images] (6) were dismissed in a space of 11 runs (rather, 11 balls) as Anil Kumble [Images] (two for 18) and Dale Steyn (one for 26) did most of the damage.

However, the total was never going to be enough and Shikar Dhawan (unbeaten 16) and Ferveez Maharoof (13 not out) ensured Delhi reached their target without further damage and with 10 balls left.

Points table

Earlier, Shreevats Goswami's debut half century (52) and Misbah-ul-Haq's (47) late charge resurrected Bangalore Royal Challengers from a wobbly start to carry their team to a modest 154 for 7.

After Sehwag won the toss and asked the opposition to bat in their crucial match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Delhi Daredevils kept the home team under a tight lease.

Except for Goswami taking the visiting bowlers head on and Misbah scoring a 25-ball 47 (2X4; 4X6) towards the close to take the score past 150, Rahul Dravid-led side were never dominating with Glenn McGrath (2/25 from 4 overs) and Farveez Maharoof (2/13 from 4) bowling with immaculate line and length, and wickets falling at regular intervals.

Goswami, who was part of India's recent U-19 World Cup triumph, top-scored with 52 from 42 balls which he made with the help of seven fours and a huge six.

He hit a six and three fours off Pradeep Sangwan in the eighth over to collect 18 runs from that over to stand tall among ruins. He was out in the 16th over off Maharoof while trying to accelerate the innings only to hole out at point to Tillekaratne Dilshan.

McGrath began with his miserly self giving away just one run in the opening over and claiming the wicket of Bharat Chipli for two, caught by Rajat Bhatia in the fifth over.

The retired Australian gave away just three and five overs in his next two overs to tie down Bangalore Royal Challengers to 35 for one in the first five overs.

Sehwag, who got the flak for some of his questionable decisions in earlier matches, made some intelligent shuffling of his bowlers who got immediate success each time.

For the home team, it was the familiar top order wobble with struggling Jacques Kallis [Images] (25) edging a consistent Sri Lankan Maharoof delivery for wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik to make a brilliant catch diving to his right in the seventh over.

Kallis, promoted to open the innings, made his 25 from 21 balls with the help of three fours and a huge six off Sangwan in the second over.

Dravid himself could not carry forward his fine form of the last match and lost his timbers to Dilshan in the 11th over for nine while trying to accelerate the dipping run rate after his side could just gather 70 runs from 10 overs and 102 for after the end of 15th. 

It was left to debutant Goswami who came one down to make a match out of it and the young wicketkeeper did a brilliant job before Misbah complemented him with a cameo which included two fours and four sixes.