Collingwood stars as Delhi thrash Bangalore

Delhi Daredevils closed in on a semi-final spot with a crucial 37-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Sunday. The Delhi bowlers backed up on a splendid batting effort to restrict the visitors to 147-9 to jump into second place in the standings.
Chasing 185, Bangalore were off to a modest start but early wicket of Cameron White pegged them back, as Jacques Kallis and Kevin Pietersen found it hard to get quick runs with the Delhi spinners in operation. Barring Kallis' half-century, Bangalore stumbled with none of their batsmen carrying on.
Amit Mishra and Daniel Vettori pulled Bangalore back in their opening spell, as frustration had the better of Kevin Pietersen who was bowled off Pradeep Sangwan after labouring to a 19-ball 17. But the biggest blow for Bangalore came in the form of Robin Uthappa, who perished in an attempt to push the scoring.
Kallis continued his stunning run of form and Ross Taylor's opening burst had Bangalore back in the reckoning, with the New Zealand batsman taking 20 runs off an Amit Mishra over, before being adjudged leg before off Rajat Bhatia having creamed 22 from 10 balls.
Bangalore slipped thereafter, with Kallis, Virat Kohli and Rahul Dravid falling in quick succession as Delhi wrapped up a convincing victory, following up their victorious outing in Bangalore 10 days ago.
Earlier, Paul Collingwood cracked an unbeaten 74 from just 35 balls as Delhi recovered from frequent setbacks to post a challenging 184-5.
Englishman Collingwood came in to bat with Delhi having lost opener Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir in quick succession, and saw David Warner lose his wicket from the other end. Sehwag got Delhi off to a brisk start with a quickfire 35 before Abhimanyu Mithun ended his stay after the hosts won the toss and decided to bat.
Gautam Gambhir was run out for one, extending his poor run in the tournament following a promising start, but Warner took on the bowlers with a 33-run cameo before his dismissal off Anil Kumble. But Collingwood took charge despite losing regular wickets.
Collingwood hammered three fours and seven massive sixes and was well supported by New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori (19 not out), who was playing his first game for the Daredevils this season.