The Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers bowled brilliantly to restrict Delhi Daredevils to a small total, before bailing their batsmen out in the final overs at the Feroz Shah Kotla to consign the home side to their fourth straight defeat in IPL 2013.
Needing just 115 to win, after some brilliant bowling from the likes of Dale Steyn and Ishant Sharma, the Sunrisers, who now have three wins in four, stuttered and sputtered through their chase, eventually eking out a three-wicket victory in the last over.
It should have really been a walk in the park for the Sunrisers, but they made hard work of it, coming agonizingly close to throwing away, what should have been the easiest of wins.
Opener Akshath Reddy did not help matters, taking up eight balls for just one run, before running himself out, courtesy a direct hit from Shahbaz Nadeem.
Kumar Sangakkara and Parthiv Patel steadied the ship, putting together 44 runs for the second wicket, before the Surnisers lost the plot by unnecessarily gifting away their wickets.
Patel top-edged one back to Nadeem (two for 17), while Sangakkara uncharacteristically played a false shot which saw him edge one to Sehwag at slip off Johan Botha's bowling.
It's unbelievable what a few dot balls can do to a batsman in this format, and Cameron White, like Sangakkara, played a poor shot, dancing down the track, when the run rate was very much in control, only to miss the ball with Kedar Jadhav completing the stumping for Nadeem's second wicket.
Hanuma Vihari soon followed and Sunrisers were up against it at 71 for five. Ashish Reddy hit a couple of boundaries, but was bowled by Morne Morkel for a nine-ball 16, with Sunrisers at 89 for six from 16.1 overs, needing another 26 runs for victory.
Sunrisers took it to 18 from the last three overs, with Thisara Perera and Amit Mishra batting.
After three runs from the first couple of deliveries, again a stupid shot from a Sunrisers batsman brought Delhi back into the game. Perera looked for a six over long-on, but only found Botha, leaving the away side teetering on 100 for seven.
Mishra (16) and Steyn (9), however, came together and played a nice couple of cameos, with the Sunrisers eventually scoring the six runs that were needed in the last over, with a couple and a four from Steyn off the first two deliveries.
Earlier, Delhi were boosted by the return of Virender Sehwag, who finally overcame his back problems to take the field for the first time this season.
The first over of the innings was pretty much the sign of things to come for the Daredevils as that man Dale Steyn again bowled an immaculate opening spell to pile on the pressure on the home side.
David Warner did not look too comfortable in the first couple of deliveries, with Steyn (two for 11) right on the mark from ball one, before a mistimed shot to mid-on resulted in a walk back to the pavilion for the Australian opener.
At 0 for one after the first over, Delhi needed, more than ever, their two most experienced batsmen - Sehwag and Mahela Jayawardene -- to hang on for a considerable time and build a nice platform.
And, for a couple of overs it looked like the Daredevils were on their way to posting a decent total with both the batsmen looking in good touch. Jayawardene played a brilliant flick to square leg for a six, before driving one to the off side for a boundary.
Sehwag too was getting in on the act, smashing a couple of typical fours through the offside.
However, the turning point of the innings came in the fifth over, with Ishant Sharma (two for 35) picking up both wickets of Jayawardene (12) and Sehwag (12) in successive deliveries.
The Sri Lankan was the first to go, caught at mid-on by Steyn off a top edge while attempting an expansive shot over the top.
Sehwag followed in the very next delivery, edging one to slip, with Cameron White completing a smart catch.
Johan Botha negotiated the hat-trick ball from Sharma comfortable enough, but the rest of the innings was a struggle.
Delhi needed someone to counter-attack, similar to the innings played by Dinesh Karthik for the Mumbai Indians against them earlier. But, the Daredevils chose to play cautiously, with the Sunrisers picking up wickets at regular intervals to snuff out any chance of a charge.
It must also be said, apart from the top three, Delhi did not really have anyone capable of playing an innings to take the game away from the bowlers.
Kedhar Jadhav played a nice little 20-ball cameo which yielded 30 runs, to at least take Delhi well past the 100-run mark.
