By Sheriff Michaels
CENTURION, South Africa (TheSportsNEXT) October 13, 2012: Delhi Daredevils started their Champions League Twenty20 2012 campaign on an astounding note on Saturday when they floored the Indian Premier League champions Kolkata Knight Riders by a massive margin of 52 runs at SuperSport Park in Centurion.
India’s young sensation Unmukt Chand played central role in Delhi Daredevils’ impressive victory as he struck 40 from 27 balls hitting four boundaries and two massive sixes. He was ably supported by New Zealand skipper Ross Taylor who smashed two sixes and a boundary during his 24-ball 36 runs innings.Batting first, Delhi Daredevils scored 160 for eight from their 20 overs and in reply Kolkata Knight Riders could only compile 108 for seven from their quota as Indian left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan kept asking questions on regular occasions at an uneven pitch.
Delhi Daredevils skipper Mahela Jayawardene (21 from 19 – 4 fours), Virender Sehwag (22 from 17 – 2 fours, 1 six), and Kevin Pietersen (14 from 18 – 1 four) also came up with good contributions to lift the total into a safe category.
West Indian orthodox spinner Sunil Narine captured three wickets for 21 runs while Lakshmipathy Balaji grabbed two wickets but proved an expensive option for Gautam Gambhir as the medium-pacer was belted for 61 runs from his four overs. Australian fast bowler Brett Lee was also impressive with figures of 1/19 from his four overs.
Kolkata Knight Riders innings never got going after a disastrous start where Manvinder Bisla (1 from 4), skipper Gautam Gambhir (Duck), and Brendon McCullum (Duck) went back in the pavilion in the blink of an eye.
South African fast bowler Morne Morkel further dented the IPL champions by injuring veteran all-rounder Jacques Kallis (0 retired hurt) and he had to travel to the nearby hospital to get his finger x-rayed.
Manoj Tiwary (33 from 38 – 2 fours, 1 six), Yusuf Pathan (11 from 11 – 1 four), and Rajat Bhatia (22 from 37 – 1 four, 1 six) did their best to undo the damage but it was all done and dusted after the top-order collapse and in the end the KKR could put only 108 runs on the board.Irfan Pathan took two wickets for 19 runs, Morne Morkel grabbed two wickets for 25 runs, while Umesh Yadav captured two wickets for 13 runs. Former Indian fast bowler Ajit Agarkar also bowled well during his spell of four overs taking a wicket for 21 runs.
Irfan Pathan was declared Man of the Match for his all-round show in the match.
