Kolkata: In their maiden match of IPL 2012,  Delhi Daredevils crushed Kolkata Knight Riders by eight wickets  at the Eden Gardens here on Thursday.
After thundershowers caused a 150-minute delay, reducing the match to a 12-over affair, the DareDevils restricted their rivals after winning the toss to 97/9 and then coasted to victory with five balls to spare.
Having played a destructive knock, Irfan Pathan (42 not out off 20 balls, 2×4, 3×6) hit the winning stroke, a boundary, as the Delhi side reached 100/2, much to the dismay of the near capacity crowd at the historic ground who waited patiently for hours to watch the action in the middle. Glenn Maxwell remained not out on 3.
The third wicket partnership added 43 runs in 23 deliveries, with Pathan doing almost the entire scoring.
Australian Aaron Finch (30; 27b, 5×4)) played a strokeful knock, while skipper Virender Sehwag (20 off 13b, 1×6, 1×4) threatened to run away with the match during a 49-run opening wicket stand, as the Knight Riders’ bowlers failed to make much of an impression. However, the duo were dismissed in quick succession that slowed down the run rate.
At one point of time, the Daredevils required 39 runs in four overs, and the match was still open. But Pathan’s lusty hitting ensured an easy win for the Delhi franchisee.
In the evening, the Knight Riders got off to a poor start, losing their star opener Brendon McCullum (9) in the very second over, before Daredevils fast bowler Morne Morkel (3/18) wrecked havoc with his yorkers.
Handed the ball in the third over, the South African shattered the stumps of compatriot Jacques Kallis (4) and local boy Manoj Tiwary (0) to be on a hattrick but Yusuf Pathan prevented the feat.
Morkel later got rid of Knights skipper Gautam Gambhir (16) to reduce KKR to 5/54 inside seven overs.
It was only thanks to cameos by local boys Laxmi Ratan Shukla (26; 17 b, 1×4, 2×6) and Debabrata Das (18; 9 b, 2×6) that the Knight Riders could play their full quota of overs to reach close to the three-figure mark.
Umesh Yadav (2/9) and Roelof Van Der Merwe (2/28) were the other successful bowlers for the visitors. Irfan Pathan was man of the match.
“After starting off badly, we did play better to set a target of 98. However, Delhi played better and were the deserving winners,” Skipper Gautam Gambhir said at the post match conference.
He refused to blame the loss either on the toss or the truncated game.
“These things are not in your hand. Of course, we too would have chosen to chase had we won the toss.”
Gambhir also had words of praise for local boys Laxmi Ratan Shukla and Debabrata Das who played well enough to take the Knight Riders to a respectable total.
“In spite of being 34 for 4 we posted a challenging total. Shukla and Das both played well enough. They have been batting well in the nets and they are surely the players to watch out for,” said Gambhir.
He also hoped South African pacer Merchant de Lange, who gave 36 runs in his 3 overs, will come good in the later matches.
Meanwhile, Irfan Pathan, who top scored in the match with a quick fire 42 to become the man of the match, said the wicket in the second half became better for stroke making.