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Daredevils beat Knight Riders by nine wickets

Delhi Daredevils thrashed bottom placed Kolkata Knight Riders by nine wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Kingsmead. Kolkata Knight Riders captain Brendon McCullum won the toss and decided to bat against Delhi Daredevils.

Kolkata Knight Riders 154/3 in 20 overs (Morne van Wyk 75, Brendon McCullum 35; Pradeep Sangwan 2/29).

Delhi Daredevils 157/1 in 19 overs (Gautam Gambhir 71 not out, Tillakaratne Dilshan 42 not out).

It was another embarrassing loss for the Knightriders but a comprehensive win for the Daredevils as they chased down 155, a competitive target with utmost ease. Gambhir was the top-scorer but he survived at least four chances. Two dropped catches, a run out and a caught-behind not given. It was Kolkata's horrendous day on the field, innumerable catches were dropped, uncountable misfields. Seven defeats for Kolkata now, and Delhi take the top spot on the points table with five wins.

Kolkata Knight Riders worked out a different plan today. McCullum came out with a positive intent and he played well before getting out. van Wyk took over from there and then held the innings together with his first fifty of the season. It's a competitive score no doubt, but on a batting pitch it can be overhauled.

Delhi are unchanged. Kolkata have made one change, bringing in Moises Henriques for Chris Gayle, who has left for England.

The Shahrukh Khan owned team Kolkata Knight Riders have had sullen performance so far. They have lost six out of their eight matches, with one being washed out. However, a few positives have emerged from the previous two matches played by Knight Riders. Closely fought games and the form of Brad Hodge are those encouraging aspects for Kolkata, giving them confidence as they take on the Delhi Daredevils.

Having dominated most part of the tournament, Delhi Daredevils had a setback when they lost their matches against Rajasthan and Chennai recently. However, a strong outfit that Delhi is, they would look at pressing the advantage on a depleted looking Kolkata side. With Sehwag likely to come back after suffering from a finger injury, the top order of the Daredevils looks stable. While Dilshan and de Villiers have been performing well, Delhi would expect contributions from the dynamic duo of Sehwag and Gambhir and hope for the pair to be amongst the runs.

Delhi Daredevils:V Sehwag, R Bhatia, PD Collingwood, AB de Villiers, TM Dilshan, G Gambhir, KD Karthik, AB McDonald, GD McGrath, MF Maharoof, VY Mahesh, M Manhas, A Mishra, Y Nagar, DP Nannes, A Nehra, AM Salvi, P Sangwan, OA Shah, DL Vettori, DA Warner, T Yadav, U Yadav

Kolkata Knight Riders:BB McCullum, Anureet Singh, AB Agarkar, RB Banerjee, AB Dinda, SC Ganguly, CH Gayle, AN Ghosh, MC Henriques, BJ Hodge, DJ Hussey, M Kartik, CK Langeveldt, Mashrafe Mortaza, AD Mathews, BAW Mendis, WP Saha, SS Shaikh, I Sharma, LR Shukla, MN van Wyk, Yashpal Singh