NEW DELHI: David Warner struck a magnificient century to guide Delhi Daredevils to a convincing 40-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League match on Monday.

Knight Riders began in style, snaring Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir cheaply, but failed to maintain the momentum and surrendered meekly when pursuing a target of 178. Much was expected of Sourav Ganguly, Chris Gayle and Manoj Tiwary, but they came a cropper to leave Daredevils with their fourth win in seven matches.

Man-of-the-match Warner produced the second century of this IPL edition, after Yusuf Pathan of Rajasthan Royals. Warner (107 not out) and Paul Collingwood (53) created the platform for their bowlers to exploit later. The ease with which Warner scored and the professional methods of Collingwood ensured Daredevils stayed on course.

Gradually, but surely, Knight Riders lost their grip on the game and paid the price for inconsistency in the second half of the innings when the bowlers were taken apart by Warner and Collingwood. Knight Riders were handicapped by Ajit Agarkar and Ishant Sharma’s poor show but spinners Murali Kartik and David Hussey excelled by conceding just 50 runs between them.

A spectacular catch by David Hussey

was the highlight of the first half. He tossed the ball in with his right hand even as

he hopped over the boundary and completed a left-handed catch with a diving effort to get rid of Collingwood.