NEW DELHI: Dinesh Karthik blasted a 38-ball 69 and the home side bowlers then wreaked havoc as a resurgent Delhi Daredevils steamrolled Rajasthan Royals by 67 runs in their return leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL) match on here Wednesday.

Karthik clobbered six fours and four sixes and added 79 runs off 50 balls with Gautam Gambhir (43) to power Delhi to 188-6. The home side then returned to dismiss Rajasthan for 121 in 17.4 overs to clinch their third win on the trot which catapulted them to the second place in the points table. For them, Amit Mishra (3-25) and Parvez Maharoof (2-13) starred with the ball to snap Rajasthan Royals’ four-game winnings streak.

Chasing 189 to win, Rajasthan never looked to be in the chase as they lost two wickets — opener Michael Lumb (naught) and Faiz Faisal (naught) — in the first over itself and by 4.1 overs were further reduced to 31-4. Rajasthan’s chase was hit by Maharoof in the first over as he dismissed Lumb, courtesy a stunning catch by David Warner, and trapped Faisal in front of wicket to reduce the visitors to 1-2.

Naman Ojha (27) showed some spark with four fours and a six but fizzled out in the fourth over off Amit Mishra. Abhishek Jhunjhunwala (two) was also run out in the next over to further dent their chances. Yusuf Pathan (24) and Adam Voges (15) tried to rebuild the innings but soon they were also back to the pavilion. Paras Dogra (20) and Sumit Narwal (12) were the other contributors for the visitors.

Earlier, coming to bat when Delhi were gasping for breath at 67-4 in 8.3 overs, Kathik forged a crucial 79-run fifth wicket partnership with skipper Gambhir in 50 balls to resurrect the innings and then fired in the late overs to help the home team post their highest total in third IPL. The Daredevils batsman plundered six fours and four sixes before being dismissed in the last ball of the innings.

After the 15th over, Karthik stepped on gas and biffed Siddharth Trivedi for a six and followed it up with two consecutive sixes in the 17th over off Narwal over long-off and deep mid-wicket. Narwal, however, came back strongly dismissing Gambhir in the fifth ball of the over.

Karthik continued the carnage at the other end and blasted three successive fours in the 18th over en route to his fifty which came of 30 balls, before blasting Tait for a six in the last over. Andrew McDonald also contributed to his team’s total with a nine-ball 14.