Chennai first rode on Suresh Raina's fine half-century and a late burst from skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to post a competitive 177 and then came up with a disciplined bowling and fielding effort to bundle out the Daredevils for a paltry 84 in 15.4 overs.
Raina made 56 off 41 balls during which he struck five boundaries and one six. He shared 54 runs off 46 balls for the second wicket with Dwayne Smith to lay the base for the total.
Chasing the target, the Daredevils witnessed a nightmarish start as they lost half of their side with just 50 runs on the board in the 10th over.
The Delhi outfit's chase never really got going at they lost wickets at regular intervals to reel for major part of their innings.
Young Ishwar Pandey impressed his IPL debut. He struck the first blow for Chennai in only his second over by removing Mayank Agarwal. Agarwal was brilliantly caught by a running Raina at cover as the batsman went for an inside-out shot.
While du Plesis pulled off a stunner to sent packing Viajy off Mohit Sharma's bowling, the South African pounced on another skier in Pandey's next over to remove Tiwary.
Skipper Dinesh Karthik (21) and J P Duminy (15) tried to resurrect the Daredevils' chase with a 25-run stand for the fourth wicket but it was not to be as wickets continued to tumble like pack of cards.
Duminy was caught plumb in front of the wicket by Dwayne Smith of his first ball before Ben Hilfenhaus induced an edge from an out-of-form Ross Taylor which was gleefully accepted by Dhoni.