NEW DELHI, May 8: Chennai Super Kings kept their nerves as Subramaniam Badrinath and Manpreet Gony emerged unlikely heroes to edge out Delhi Daredevils in a last-ball finish in the Indian Premier League clash at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Thursday.

Delhi appeared to have missed a trick as captain Virender Sehwag used up frontline bowlers Glenn McGrath and Mohammad Asif as Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik was left to bowl the final over with 15 runs to get. Gony was up to the task, smashing the first ball for a towering six before a wide dampened Delhi’s hopes.

Gony struck another boundary next ball but boiled down to the final ball as Badrinath was on strike with a run to win. Shikhar Dhawan nearly pulled off a sensational catch in the deep but the Chennai dressing room erupted as the ball trickled out of the fielder’s hands to hand Chennai their first win after three straight defeats.

Earlier, Delhi Daredevils opener Gautam Gambhir smashed 80 from 49 balls to lift his side to 187-5 before Super Kings began their pursuit in fine fashion, with openers Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan and Stephen Fleming flaying the Delhi attack.

Delhi pulled back with quick wickets before Albie Morkel got Super Kings back on track, smashing Sehwag for 23 runs in an over that included three consecutive sixes.

Put in to bat in the return leg by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sehwag and Gambhir provided the home side with a rollicking start before Chennai bowlers Gony and Morkel struck in succession to remove Sehwag (23) and A.B. de Villiers (0) to pull the hosts back. But Gambhir, along with left-hander Dhawan wrested the initiative back with a 121-run third-wicket partnership.

Delhi Daredevils, having by far the best top order in the tournament, once again profited from them as Gambhir notched up his third half-century of the tournament, once again becoming the leading run-scorer while Dhawan, too, reached yet another fifty in the competition.

Lakshmipathy Balaji, playing his first game after a prolonged battle with injury, marked his return to top-flight cricket with two wickets in the final stages, while Morkel chipped in with two wickets as well.

Chennai Super Kings, who lost three in three after winning their first four games, were thrown off kilter by the departure of Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey and Jacob Oram, which prompted them to revise their strategies as they won the toss and opted to field.Delhi Daredevils had won their first leg match against Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets. Both teams went into the match with eight points. But while Delhi Daredevils have played six matches so far, Chennai Super Kings have figured in seven.

Both teams have eight points each.

Summarised scores: