Panchkula, Mar 16 Avishka Gunawardene struck a brilliant unbeaten 55 as Delhi Giants crushed Ahmedabad Rockets by nine wickets in a one-sided match of the ICL's Twenty20 tournament here today.

Chasing a modest 108 for win, the Sri Lankan left-hander showed little respect for the opposition bowlers slamming six boundaries and three huge sixes in his 44-ball knock.

The Giants raced past the target with 27 balls to spare, with Abhinav Bali finishing the job after the fall of opener Monish Mishra (18).

Bali's knock of 34 came in just 21 balls and included four boundaries and a six.

The Rockets skipper Damien Martyn used seven bowlers to check the onslaught launched by Gunawardene and later on by Bali, and barring former team-mate Jason Gillespie (3-0-10-0), all of his bowlers went for runs.

Earlier, electing to bat after winning the toss, the Rockets lost three of their top order batsmen with just nine runs on board.

Openers Wavell Hinds (5) and Sachin Dholpure (1) departed early and soon Murray Goodwin (1) and later Rakesh Patel (7) followed suit.

Had it not been the rescue act launched by skipper Damien Martyn (44) and S. Sriram (32) who weaved a 62-run partnership for the fifth wicket, the Rockets would have packed up early.

TP Sudhindra (4-1-13-1) and Dale Benkenstein (3-0-14-1) returned with impressive bowling figures for the winning team. (Agencies)