Delhi Daredevils defeated Kings XI Punjab by 51 runs in their first Indian Premier League home match on Saturday, and Kolkata Knight Riders went top of the table with a 17-run victory over defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad. England's Sam Billings (55) hit his second IPL half century and New Zealand left-hander Corey Anderson's brisk 39 off 22 balls gave Daredevils a strong total of 188-6. Billings hit nine fours before departing in the 13th over. Anderson and Pat Cummins (12) provided a lively finish to the innings when they smashed Sandeep Sharma (1-41) for 19 runs in the last over. Kings XI were tied down early by the left-arm spin of Shahbaz Nadeem (2-13) and later seamers Chris Morris (3-23) and Pat Cummins (2-23) picked up five wickets between them to restrict the opposition to 137-9. No. 7 batsman Axar Patel top-scored with 44 before Morris clean bowled the left-hander off the last ball. Both teams now have four points with two victories, but Daredevils have played one game less than Kings XI. Earlier, Kolkta Knight Riders also successfully defended a total when they beat Sunrisers by 17 runs at Eden Gardens. Knight Riders went top with three wins from four matches while Sunrisers lost their second successive match after back-to-back victories in the first two games. Robin Uthappa (68) cashed in on a flurry of chances to strike a half century as Knight Riders successfully defended 172-6 against Sunrisers despite losing the toss. Uthappa should have been out for a duck off the first ball he faced from Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3-20) but the umpire misjudged a thick edge and gave it not out. Sunrisers got at least three more opportunities before Uthappa completed his half century but Shikhar Dhawan missed a runout and also dropped a catch. In between, Naman Ojha missed a stumping chance. Uthappa added 77 runs with Manish Pandey (46) for the third-wicket stand off 52 balls before holing out in the deep in the 15th over. Uthappa faced 39 balls, hitting five fours and four sixes. Sunrisers captain David Warner (26) and Dhawan put on 45 runs in the first six overs, but both departed by the 10th over with the total at 59. Knight Riders' decision to include Kuldeep Yadav ahead of leg-spinner Piyush Chawla paid off as the left-arm spinner bowled a steady spell of four overs for 23 runs and got the key wicket of Warner. Experienced Sunil Narine (1-18) also held down Sunrisers, who could only reach 155-6. "A quality side would win from any situation because the toss is not in your hand," Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir said. "The wicket started gripping ... we knew Sunil and Kuldeep would come into play." On Sunday, joint leaders Mumbai Indians host Gujarat Lions, while Royal Challengers Bangalore take on Rising Pune Supergiant in Bangalore.
