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The Kolkata Knight Riders kicked off their 2013 IPL season in grand fashion, with an easy 6 wicket victory at Eden Gardens over last year’s most consistent team, the Delhi Daredevils.
Having won the toss, the Knight Riders chose to field. The Daredevils got off to a horrible start as the Indian U-19 captain, Unmukt Chand, was clean bowled first ball, after an absolute beauty from Brett Lee. The second wicket stand was all that was there to cherish for the DD supporters throughout the night as the duo of Warner and Jayawardene put on 44 runs. Sunil Narine was introduced for the first time in the 6th over, and the talisman was instantly rewarded as he dismissed Warner with a beautiful ball that caught the edge of Warner’s bat and was caught safely at slip by Kallis. The Daredevils found no respite henceforth as wickets kept falling at regular intervals. The DD skipper, Mahela Jayawardene, was the only man who showed great skill and class, but unfortunately found no support from the other end. He was dismissed for a very well made 66 in the 19th over. Sunil Narine eventually bagged four for the night as the Daredevils finished with a modest total of 128.
The Knight Riders didn’t start off in the greatest fashion either. Manvinder Bisla was dismissed in the second over itself by Ashish Nehra. From that point onwards, it was Kolkata all the way. They scored runs with pace and ease, and never once did they look scared. The Kolkata captain, Gambhir, top scored with 41 runs, and was provided good company by Kallis and Tiwary, who scored 23 runs each. The pair of Yusuf Pathan and Eoin Morgan eventually finished off the match in the 19th over, handing the hosts 2 points. For the Daredevils, young Shahbaz Nadeem was the only bowler to finish with decent figures as he conceded only 22 runs and also picked up 2 wickets.
Sunil Narine was adjudged Man of the Match for his outstanding figures of 4-13. The West Indian spinner looks in great form and if this is how he’s going to continue, all oppositions are surely going to have a hard time facing him.
