India opener Virender Sehwag struck a 47-ball 80 to power Delhi Daredevils to a 38-run victory over Kochi Tuskers Kerala.
Knight Riders, opting to field first, restricted Kings XI to 119-6 in 20 overs despite a fighting 42 by Dinesh Karthik.
Captain Gautam Gambhir hit 45 not out to lead his side to victory with Knight Riders finishing at 120-2 in 17.2 overs.
Man-of-the-match Iqbal Abdulla took 2-19, including Kings XI skipper Adam Gilchrist (26), before Karthik shored up the visitors.
Left-arm spiner Bhargav Bhatt dismissed Jacques Kallis (1) and England's Eoin Moran (28) before Gambhir shared an unbroken third-wicket 85-run stand with Manoj Tiwary (34 not out).
Daredevils captain Sehwag lashed eight fours and five sixes to help his team post a challenging 157-7 following a disastrous start after choosing to bat first.
Daredevils medium-pacers Morne Morkel, Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar then shared seven wickets before South African spinner Roelof van der Merwe claimed the last three dismissals from five deliveries to bowl out Kochi Tuskers for 119 in 18.5 overs.
It was only the Daredevils' third win in eight matches.
“Absolutely happy. The wicket was not easy,” Sehwag said. “Once we crossed 120, I thought we had got par. I was hitting the ball nicely, it was obvious I had to bat longer.” Daredevils lost two wickets with four runs on the board after India paceman Shanthakumaran Sreesanth struck twice in four balls on a pitch with variable bounce.
Sreesanth bowled Australian opener David Warner for 3 and Naman Ojha for zero before Sehwag, who began cautiously, opened up to hammer spinner Ravindra Jadeja for two successive sixes and then his 50 with a six off medium-pacer Vinay Kumar.
Sehwag put on 56 for the fourth wicket with Yogesh Nagar (22) before holing out at the extra cover boundary after having hit 49 runs off the last 15 balls he faced.
Pathan dismissed New Zealand opener Brendon McCullum for 7 and Parthiv Patel for 1 and Morkel sent back Australian batsmen Michael Klinger for 2 and Brad Hodge for 27 plus Balachandra Akhil for 13.
Agarkar had skipper Mahela Jayawardene caught by Sehwag for 18 and Jadeja for 31, before Van der Merwe polished off the tail to ensure the Kochi Tuskers lost their fifth match out of eight.
On Sunday, Rajasthan Royals play Pune Warriors and Chennai Super Kings take on Deccan Chargers.
