Delhi Daredevils withered away a good foundation to post a modest 143 for seven against Sunrisers Hyderabad in a rain-interrupted Indian Premier League match here today.
Sent into bat, Dinesh Karthik made 39 off 30 balls with the help a four and two sixes, while skipper Kevin Pietersen made a quickfire 35 off 19 deliveries before giving away his wicket. He laced his knock with fours boundaries and two huge hits over the fence.
The struggling hosts lost wickets at regular intervals and could only manage 22 in the last five overs.
Delhi lost Quinton de Kock (7) in the third over. During his 12-ball stay at the wicket the South African looked nervy and got out in a timid way when he struck a Dale Steyn (2/20) length ball straight to Lokesh Rahul at cover.
Pietersen's decision to promote himself up the order in place of opener Murali Vijay, who was dropped for today's match, turned out to be a good move as he looked in great touch during his quickfire knock.
Pietersen, who has found it tough to get going so far in this IPL, looked in good touch today. He opened up his arms by hitting consecutive boundaries off Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
The former England player then welcomed leg-spinner Karn Sharma with a six over and a four to make his intentions clear.
Soon after, he clobbered Moises Henriques for a six over long-on and followed it up with a four straight past the bowler as Delhi reached 52 runs in six overs.
