Hyderabad, April 22: Rohit Sharma’s scintillating strokeplay was overshadowed by the belligerence of Virender Sehwag as Delhi Daredevils carved out a nine-wicket victory over Deccan Chargers at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Tuesday.

In a fascinating tussle, the visitors proved a bit too much for the hosts. Needing 143 to win in 20 overs, Daredevils were off to a flying start with Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir going after the bowling. Though R.P. Singh got rid of Gambhir in the fourth over, Sehwag didn’t relent.

The Delhi skipper had his fair share of luck and he rode it well. He was rapped on the pad by left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas off the second ball of the innings but the bowler’s vociferous appeal was turned down by umpire A.M. Saheba.

Sehwag’s other chance came when he skied a Vaas delivery to fine leg but Pragyan Ojha failed to latch onto the catch. To add insult to injury, the ball went for a four. Thereafter, Sehwag didn’t look back as he toyed with the rival bowling.

Sehwag took after Andrew Symonds and smashed the Australian all-rounder to all parts of the park in the 13th over. His sequence of runs were 4, 6, 4, 6, 4, 6 as he garnered 30 runs to hasten the end.

The Nawab of Najafgarh remained unconquered on 94 off just 41balls with 10 smashing fours and six huge sixes. His partnership with Shikar Dhawan, who remained unbeaten on 25, was worth 112 runs in 57 balls.

Earlier, Chargers skipper V.V.S. Laxman won the toss and elected to bat on a pitch that promised lots of runs. After Daredevils mediumpacer Glenn McGrath conceded just a bye in the first over, Adam Gilchrist took over by flicking a Mohammed Asif delivery to the square leg fence for the first six of the match. But the Pakistan pacer had the last laugh when he induced Gilchrist into a drive without moving his feet. The ball took the inner edge and went on to rattle the stumps.

Asif did further damage when he got rid of Laxman with a beauty of a delivery which moved off the pitch. The ball squeezed itself between the bat and pad to hit the middle stump. Venugopala Rao, who struggled to get his rhythm going, fell while trying to push up the run rate. He hit a Farveez Maharoof delivery down Dhawan’s throat on the cover fence.

Symonds was beaten by the movement that Maharoof was able to get from the wicket. He edged to keeper Dinesh Karthik, who pulled off a stunning catch to send the dangerman back. At 45/4, things were not too rosy for the hosts. It was at this moment that the Chargers had their first stroke of luck. Young Rohit was on seven when he backed up too far and almost got himself run out.

Shahid Afridi tried to pull a Maharoof delivery but only succeeded in edging it onto his body. The ball fell in front of him and Maharoof swiftly rushed in to field. Rohit, who was keen on a quick single, was sent back by his senior partner but Maharoof missed at the non-striker’s end.

Afridi and Bangar went without much of a fuss and it was left to Rohit to produce an extraordinary innings to take the Chargers to a defendable total. He took after Maharoof in the 18th over, hitting the Sri Lankan pacer for 26 runs with the sequence reading 6, 6, 4, 4, 4 and 2.

Rohit finally fell when he holed out to McGrath off Bhatia in the deep. But by that time the Mumbai youngster had helped himself to 66 off 36 balls with six four and four sixes. Rohit’s knock had a stamp of class all over it. There was no slogging or mishits. Every shot was from the manual and was struck with elegance.