Chennai fire on 'extra spark' from Hilfenhaus

Australian bowler's spell lays Delhi Daredevils low while Rohit Sharma's ton inspires Mumbai Indians.

Ben Hilfenhaus, right, celebrates the dismissal of the Delhi opener David Warner in Chennai.

The Delhi Daredevils suffered an odd batting failure as Chennai Super Kings coasted to a nine-wicket victory in front of their home crowd in the Indian Premier League last night.

A triple strike by Ben Hilfenhaus ensured Chennai were always in the driving seat after Delhi lost the wickets of David Warner, Virender Sehwag and Naman Ojha with just 24 runs on the board. Albie Morkel accounted for Mahela Jayawardene as Delhi limped to 114 for five with Yogesh Nagar contributing an unbeaten 43 towards the end.

Hilfenhaus, the man of the match, said later at the post-match conference: "I would be lying if I said I did not enjoy that one. We did well as a group, both bowling and batting."

His captain MS Dhoni concurred. "It was not swinging much after the first couple of overs, so we needed to keep Hilfenhaus for later. He has given us that extra spark.

"The openers are doing well too. We need to keep playing such authentic cricket chasing less than a run a ball," Dhoni said.

Any hopes of a collapse by Chennai did not materialise as openers Michael Hussey (38) and Murali Vijay (48 not out) laid out a solid platform and Suresh Raina (28 not out) continued on the good work.

Sehwag, the Delhi captain, did not shy away from acknowledging the better team on the night. "It was a good wicket to bat on. Full credit to them, CSK played well."

Earlier, the Mumbai Indians rode on Rohit Sharma's century to end Kolkata Knight Riders' winning streak at the Eden Gardens and win by 27 runs.

Rohit's quick-fire 109 in 60 balls and a 58-ball 66 by Herschelle Gibbs helped Mumbai reach a formidable total of 182 for one. The duo added 167 off 106 deliveries for the second wicket.

"There was no game plan, I just wanted to go out there and spend some time, which is what usually helps," Rohit said.

"I wanted to bat 20 overs as we were batting first and wanted to get a decent target. We knew the pitch was quite slow."

Kolkata lost two wickets for just three runs. Jacques Kallis dropped anchor, but his knock of 79 and a 131-run partnership with Yusuf Pathan (40 not out) was not enough against some tight bowling as Kolkata managed 155 for four in reply.

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