Viru's ton helps Daredevils beat Chargers

Sehwag - 119 (56b, 13x4, 6x6)

Delhi skipper Virender Sehwag who took the bull by its horns and in smashing a aggressive 119 not just added to the hosts' misery at the venue but also sounded the death knell for Chargers in this edition. Sehwag, though, must thank Chargers for dropping him twice, both times off Amit Mishra, which permitted him to win it for Delhi.

The teams started on an equal footing going into this game with six points apiece. The Chargers had only themselves to blame for thinking they had the match in the bag after praising out three Delhi wickets for a mere 25 runs. The rash of wickets only seemed to inspire Sehwag. He raced to his 50 in just 27 deliveries, Ishan Malhotra bearing the brunt, conceding 23 in his first over. Mishra went for 17 in his first apart from seeing substitute Ankit Sharma dropping a sitter that entirely changed the game.

Then on it was a Sehwag sizzler. The century came off a mere 48 deliveries but more importantly for Delhi he made the target seem so ridiculously easy. He had done enough -- contributed 56 -- in the fourth-wicket partnership of 61 runs with Travis Birt as Delhi needed 90 from the last 10.

Sehwag whittled it down to 27 from the last five -- 64 came in overs 10 to 15, illustrating well in the process what happens when he stays at the wicket for a mere 89 minutes. The sixth-wicket partnership of 67 runs (36b) between Sehwag and Irfan Pathan was terminated by Dale Steyn but Delhi completed the formalities of a four-wicket win an over to spare.