Durban, May 5: This IPL season, every other team has been a step ahead of the Kolkata Knight Riders. Tuesday's face-off against Delhi Daredevils proved nothing to the contrary.

Despite Kolkata notching up their highest score of IPL 2, the chase proved to be a walk in the park for Delhi, Daredevils skipper Gautam Gambhir led from the front with a patchy 57-ball 71, setting up the side’s comprehensive nine-wicket win over Kolkata in their seventh IPL match here.

Chasing Kolkata’s 154/6, Delhi finished at 157/1 in 19 overs. Gambhir’s presence, made the difference in the final overs, as he guided his side home along with Tillekaratne Dilshan (42 n.o.) with a 97-run partnership for the second wicket. To Kolkata’s discomfort though, Gambhir enjoyed more than a few lives — surviving dropped catches, a run-out and a genuine caught-behind appeal.

The win propelled Daredevils to the top of the table with ten points, while Knight Riders continued to languish at the bottom with three points from eight games.

Earlier, South African opening batsman Morne van Wyk’s boundary blitz helped the Knight Riders to a competitive total. The Protean struck 11 boundaries in his 48-ball 74, sharing a 58-run partnership with his skipper Brendon McCullum (35, 29b) for the first wicket.

Scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 154/3 in 20 overs (M. van Wyk 74, B. McCullum 35, M. Henriques 30 n.o.; P. Sangwan 2/29) lost to Delhi Daredevils 157/1 in 19 overs (G. Gambhir 71 n.o., T. Dilshan 42 n.o.)