Jaipur, May 1: Virender Sehwag played his trademark punishing knock after little known left-arm spinner Pawan Negi's brilliant effort with the ball as Delhi Daredevils juggernaut kept on rolling with a thumping six-wicket victory over Rajasthan Royals in an IPL match, here today.
This was Daredevils' eighth win in 10 matches as they now have 16 points and are assured of a berth in the knock-out stages.
Sehwag blasted 73 off only 38 balls as Daredevils knocked off a target of 142 with as many as 28 balls to spare.
Kevin Pietersen (36, 34 balls, 3x4, 1x6) also ended his IPL campaign on a high as he added 96 for the second wicket with Sehwag who smashed 12 boundaries and a six.
This was after young Negi had a career-best haul of four for 18 as he ran through the Royals top and middle-order after Rahul Dravid (57) and Ajinkya Rahane (42) had added 71 runs in only 8.3 overs.
From 71 for no loss, Royals slumped to 95 for five and their hopes of posting a sizeable total were dashed.
The Daredevils innings began on a disappointing note when Mehela Jayawardene (0) was trapped leg before by Ankit Chavan off the thid delivery but there was no stopping Sehwag.
He started off with a couple of boundaries off Pankaj Singh and then launched into Chavan hitting him for three boundaries. The Nawab of Najafgarh punished each and every Rajasthan bowler as he reached his 50 off 21 balls. It was his fifth consecutive half century--- a record in this format. It came with a slashed six over third man off Pankaj's bowling.
Sehwag treated the bowlers with disdain and shots all around the wicket really confused Royals bowlers as to which length they should bowl.
By the time Pietersen departed, the duo had added 96 runs and the match was in Daredevils' pocket. Sehwag continued with his boundary hitting spree and was out with only 11 required for a win.
