DURBAN, April 23: The cheerleaders hardly got a break as Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Super Kings went on a big hitting spree here at the Kingsmead. It was a sea of yellow at the entrance and Chennai should have felt at home with the support, and yet ended up losing by nine runs, the first real tight contest of IPL-2. Chasing Delhi’s 189/5, Chennai were pegged back to 180/9.

Things looked on course for M.S. Dhoni and his men at the start as the dangerous duo of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir left early.

Sadly for Chennai, the blades of AB de Villiers (105 not out, 54b, 5x4, 6x6) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (50, 27b, 7x4, 2x6) orchestrated the mayhem this time.

A target of 190 looked a mountain to climb but CSK had their trusted servant Matthew Hayden (57, 27b, 5x4, 3x6) lead from the front with yet another explosive innings. Dictating terms from the start the burly Australian never allowed the asking rate to go beyond eight. Mainstay Suresh Raina made up for a rare Dhoni failure with a stroke-filled 41 (27b, 5x4, 1x6) that kept the chase going.

Their efforts though went in vain as Chennai went down by nine runs. A well directed last over by Dirk Nannes ensured Delhi joined Deccan Chargers at the top of the table.

Super Kings were cruising along to the target but Andrew Flintoff’s dismissal at a crucial juncture let Delhi back in the game.

With Chennai requiring 29 off the last three overs Ashish Nehra allowed only five runs that made it difficult for Albie Morkel and S. Badrinath. With both batsmen struggling to find the ropes, the battle looked a lost one.

Earlier, the effort of L. Balaji — the only bowler to escaped punishment from de Villiers and Dilshan — ensured his team were chasing a sub 200 total. De Villiers riding on home support went on to record the tournament’s seventh century and the first outside India. Dilshan using the pace of the ball hit a quickfire half-century.

Flintoff proved expensive yet again leaking 50 runs in his quota while Balaji, who stemmed the flow of runs with a mixture of cutters and slower deliveries, finished with 3/19.

The last five overs produced a whopping 66 runs for Delhi.

It was thorough entertainment for the good turnout who had braved weather predictions to make it to the ground on a weekday.

Scores: Delhi Daredevils 189/5 in 20 overs (AB de Villiers 105*, T Dilshan 50; L Balaji 3/19) beat Chennai Super Kings 180/9 in 20 overs (M Hayden 57; P Sangwan 3/28)