NEW DELHI, May 25: Dinesh Karthik kept Delhi Daredevils in the hunt for a berth in the semi-final of the IPL with a thrilling five-wicket win over Mumbai Indians at the Feroz Shah Kotla here on Saturday.

Karthik’s 32-ball unbeaten 56, laced with four immaculately timed boundaries and three sixes saw Delhi home along with Farveez Maharoof (20 not out) with a ball to spare.

Needing eight from the final over, Maharoof struck two vital fours from the last two balls off Ashish Nehra, who plays first-class cricket for Delhi.

Desperately needing a win from their last match in the league stages, Delhi were chasing 177. And having lost Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan, the trio who has done the bulk of the scoring, Delhi’s middle order was faced with a test of character.

Karthik got stuck into the Mumbai bowlers when the home side appeared to be in the doldrums on 89-4, which included the wickets of Dhawan and Tillekeratne Dilshan in consecutive balls off Dwayne Smith.

To add to their woes, Mumbai had a shocking night on the field with repeated lapses, the ball going through Andre Nel’s hands for a boundary being an instance.

Sanath Jayasuriya continued to ridicule notions of age while hammering the Delhi bowlers to embarrassment as Mumbai piled up 176-8. The 38-year-old carted 66 runs in trademark fashion off 42 balls, assisted by five sixes and six fours.

But there began Mumbai’s misery as the veteran batsman wasn’t backed up from the other end as the bowlers, led by Yo Mahesh’s 4-36, staged an impressive fightback, before Robin Uthappa smoked an unbeaten 23-ball 46 to add bulk to the score.

The Kotla crowd got their pay-per-view encounter first up, with Glenn McGrath renewing his age-old rivalry with Sachin Tendulkar. However, Tendulkar’s early fall and Jayasuriya’s firing blade set up an intriguing battle with Delhi’s bowlers.

Brett Geeves bore serious brunt of Jayasuriya’s onslaught, carted for 50 from his four overs, but McGrath and Amit Mishra’s miserly ways kept the brakes on Mumbai’s scoring, as did untimely dismissals of Smith, Abhishek Nayar and Shaun Pollock.

Delhi, who needed a definite win from the game and some luck from other fixtures, saw their previous game washed out here against Kolkata Knight Riders.

Summarised scores:

MUMBAI INDIANS 176-8 in 20 overs (Sanath Jayasuriya 66, Robin Uthappa 46 not out; Yo Mahesh 4-36); DELHI DAREDEVILS 179-5 in 19.5 overs (Dinesh Karthik 56 not out, Manoj Tiwary 36, Shikhar Dhawan 27, Farveez Maharoof 20 not out; Dwayne Smith 2-22).—Agencies