Kolkata:  Brushing aside controversies, Shoaib Akhtar made a sensational Indian Premier League debut by polishing off the Delhi Daredevils top-order in a hurricane opening spell to propel Kolkata Knight Riders to a 23-run victory here today.

Battered by the Rawalpindi Express, who picked up four wickets in his first three overs, the visitors were skittled out for 110 of 17.5 overs, in reply to the Kolkata Knight Riders modest total of 133 for 6 at the Eden Gardens.

Akhtar, adjudged fit for the match only a few hours ago, matched up to the high expectations, claiming wickets in each of his first three overs, with his victims including the dreaded Delhi opening combination of skipper Virender Sehwag (0) and Gautam Gambhir (10).

Akhtar, playing at his favourite ground where he made his debut in 1999 during the Asian Test championship, finished with brilliant figures of 3-0-11-4 to walk away with the man of the match award.

Later, Laxmi Ratan shukla, brought on to bowl the 18th over, finished off the Delhi innings by taking the last three wickets to finish with an analysis of 0.5-0-6-3.

Akhtar sent back Sehwag in only the second ball of the innings, as the Prince of Najafgarh failed to negotiate a fast outswinger, managing only an outside edge to the wicket keeper.

Drumming up a fierce pace, Akhtar then accounted for Gambhir in his second over with a short-pitched ball, which the in-form batsman played straight to David Hussey at backward point, as Delhi were reduced to 17 for 2.  

Disciplined bowling by Delhi Daredevils helped them restrict Kolkata Knight Riders to 133 for the loss of six wickets in a crucial Twenty20 match in the Indian Premier League (IPL) here on Tuesday.

For the hosts, opener Salman Butt was the top scorer with 48 while Yo Mahesh and Farveez Maharoof picked up two wickets each for the Daredevils at the Eden Gardens.

Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders Captain Sourav Ganguly won the toss and elected to bat against Delhi Daredevils.

Knight Riders' Shoaib Akhtar and young spinner Iqbal Abdullah will make their debut in the IPL. Local boy Manoj Tiwari has been included in place of Dinesh Karthik for Delhi Daredevils

Teams:

Kolkata Knight Riders: Sourav Ganguly (Captain), Aakash Chopra, Salman Butt, David Hussey, Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Tatenda Taibu, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Shoaib Akhtar, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Dinda, and Iqbal Abdullah.

Delhi Daredevils: Virender Sehwag (Captain), Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, Abraham Benjamin de Villiers (wicketkeeper), Tillekeratne Dilshan, Manoj Tiwari, Farveez Maharoof, Yo Mahesh, Glenn McGrath, Pradeep Sangwan and Amit Mishra.

Umpires: Asad Rauf (Pakistan) and Ian Howell (South Africa).
TV umpire: A V Jayaprakash (India).
Match referee: Talat Ali (Pakistan).

Source : IANS