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Left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati claimed four wickets for 24 runs as Chennai Super Kings beat Delhi Daredevils by 18 runs in the Indian Premier League match in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The 28-year-old Jakati, later named man of the match, emerged the unlikely star of the night as he turned the match on its head with a fine display of slow bowling at the Wanderers.
Chasing a target of 164, Delhi could score only 145 in 20 overs after stand-in skipper Gautam Gambhir inserted Chennai in after winning the toss.
On a batting pitch hosting the first match of the tournament, Jakati claimed Delhi's twin half centurions David Warner (51) and Dinesh Karthik (52), besides in-form Tillakaratne Dilshan (13) to help Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side register their third win in seven matches in the tournament.
Chennai are joint-third, with seven points, along with Mumbai Indians (six matches) and Rajasthan Royals (seven matches), but behind Deccan Chargers and Daredevils, who both have on eight points.
Till the 15th over, Delhi were on course at 120 for three mainly due to Warner and Karthik but they could add just 25 runs in the last five overs while losing three quick wickets.
Delhi lost their way once Warner was out in the 16th over and Karthik in the 18th.
Earlier, left-arm pacers Ashish Nehra and Dirk Nannes took three wickets each as Delhi Daredevils restricted Chennai Super Kings to 163.
Nehra and Nannes finished with identical figures of 3 for 27 while medium pacer Rajat Bhatia chipped in with 2 for 17.
The Super Kings scored at a brisk pace initially and were well on course for a bigger total, having amassed 134 for four after the 15th over. But then they could add only 29 runs from the last five overs while losing six wickets.
Jacob Oram (3), Dhoni (6), Sudeep Jakati (13), Laxmipathy Balaji (2) and Muttiah Muralitharan (3) did little for the team's cause.
Nannes took two wickets -- those of Oram and Dhoni -- in successive balls in the 18th over to deal a huge blow to Chennai's hopes of a competitive total.
With Virender Sehwag sitting out of the game because of an injury, Delhi were led by Gautam Gambhir. Sehwag was replaced by David Warner, but to accommodate the dashing batsman Vettori had to be left out.
The Chennai side began on a strong note but lost two quick wickets -- of openers Matthew Hayden (30) and Murali Vijay (14) and were reduced to 53 for in the sixth over.
Vijay could not contribute much on his IPL debut and was out in the fifth over, going for a pull off Nehra. The ball got a thick edge and Rajat Bhatia took a good edge at extra cover.
Hayden, who hit a half century in Super Kings' nine-run loss in Durban in their first match against the same opponents, followed his much younger partner to the hut in the next over after living dangerously while also hitting some lusty blows.
He could not beat AB de Villiers at long-on in the sixth over and was out after scoring a 19-ball 30 that included four fours and one six.
Chennai shifted gears after being reduced to 77 for three at the halfway mark and added 57 runs in the next five overs though they also lost the wicket of one-down Suresh Raina for 32.
S Badrinath showed his intent by hitting two sixes and two fours from the 11th and 12th overs before Bhatia broke the dangerous looking third-wicket stand of 66 from 41 balls by dismissing Raina, caught by Tillakaratne Dilshan at the mid-wicket boundary.
Raina faced 21 balls from which he hit two fours and an equal number of sixes.
Badrinath, who was looking good for his fifty, gifted his wicket by playing across the line only to see his stumps knocked down by a Bhatia yorker. He was out for a 34-ball 45 which had four fours and two sixes.
Albie Morkel (4) did little for the team's cause; he was out caught and bowled by Nehra in the 16th over, attempting to pull but only getting a top edge.