HALF-centuries from Virender Sehwag, Mahela Jayawardene and Kevin Pietersen helped the Delhi Daredevils to a 37-run victory over Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League in Delhi Sehwag (73) and Jayawardene (55) shared a 135-run stand for the first wicket to give the Daredevils a more-than-solid start.
And there was no respite for the Indians. As soon as they had seen off Jayawardene, Pietersen arrived and plundered an unbeaten 50 from 26 deliveries to guide Delhi to 207 for five.
South Africa slow left-armer Robin Peterson was the pick of the Mumbai bowlers with three for 37, including the scalps of the two openers.
Mumbai’s response could hardly have got off to a worse start, with opener Aiden Blizzard out in the first over for a duck and fellow opener Sachin Tendulkar (seven) and his India team-mate Rohit Sharma (12) following soon after with the total on only 19.
Dinesh Karthik (40) and Ambati Rayudu (62) shared a 96-run third-wicket partnership to steady the ship for the Indians but after they departed the wickets continued to tumble and the visitors fell well short of their target, finishing their 20 overs on 170 for nine.
The result saw Delhi move three points clear of Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings at the top of the table – all having played eight games. Mumbai remained seventh. (PA Sport)