Delhi snare second spot as Bangalore also reach finals

Ricky Ponting's Delhi Capitals have qualified for the IPL playoffs in second place after beating Simon Katich's Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets on Monday night.

Having restricted RCB to 7-152, the Capitals largely cruised to victory with an over to spare, as experienced Indian pair Shikhar Dhawan (54) and Ajinkya Rahane (60) shared a 98-run stand.

It marked the end of a four-match losing streak for Ponting's side and means they will now meet the league-leading Mumbai Indians in the first qualifier on Thursday.

The winner advances to the final, the loser to a playoff eliminator against the winner of third versus fourth.

Despite the loss, Bangalore also sneaked into the four-team playoffs after edging ahead of fourth-placed Kolkata Knight Riders via net run-rate, with the latter now facing an anxious wait to see if Sunrisers Hyderabad can leapfrog them by beating Mumbai in the final regular-season match of the tournament tonight.

Fast bowlers Anrich Nortje (3-33) and IPL-leading wicket-taker Kagiso Rabada (2-30) were the best performed with the ball after Daniel Sams (0-40) took the new ball.

Left-handed opener Devdutt Padikkal continued his impressive form and scored 50 off 42 balls to raise his fifth half-century in his first IPL.

After Josh Philippe (12) showed a brief glimpse of his attacking prowess, RCB captain Virat Kohli (29) was dropped on 13 and looked in ominous touch until he was well caught on the midwicket boundary by Marcus Stoinis.

AB de Villiers hit two sixes and a boundary in his quickfire 35 off 21 balls before he was run out while attempting to retain the strike in the last over.

Delhi's run chase was then anchored by Rahane and Dhawan (54) but Bangalore ensured they edged Kolkata in the standings by dragging the game to 19 overs, with Stoinis (10no) helping his side across the line.

Kohli said he knew the run chase needed go beyond 17.3 overs in order for his side to ensure a place in the playoffs.

"It's a mixed bag," he said of the outcome. "You come to games to try and get a result your way.

 "Even if the game was drifting away, we controlled the middle overs well enough."