The defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders, didn't seem to have let time have any effect on their script. They continued here at Eden Garders this Wednesday the way they had finished last year on May 27 -- the IPl-5 final against Chennai Super Kings.
Delhi Daredevils might have been lesser opponents but the hosts didn't let the plot slip away from them and reached the 129-run target comfortably. Knights did experience some hiccups in the initial part of the chase but their skipper Gautam Gambhir's 42 was enough to anchor a six-wicket win, with eight balls to spare, in the first match of the IPl-6.
After Gambhir called right and put Daredevils in to bat, the spectators were eagerly waiting for bowling mentor Brett lee to start the action. And the Australian did begin in an awe-inspiring fashion. His pace and line was a bit too much for the 2012 under-19 World Cup winning captain Unmukt Chand. The Delhi boy, making his IPl debut, could do nothing to save his leg stump as lee led the hosts to a perfect start, claiming first wicket on the first delivery.
Visiting skipper Mahela Jayawardene then eased some fraying nerves by guiding the following delivery towards the ropes on the legside. Jayawardene and David Warner then treaded with all the caution, just stealing a boundary or two off seemingly weaker deliveries as lee and Jacques Kallis kept a tight line.
laxmipathy Balaji and Sunil Narine were next to take charge. And, the West Indian mystery spinner of the last edition seemed to have lost no touch with that self. Warner was at 21 and Daredevils at 44 when he could not get his bat on to the ball from Narine and a knick towards the back found Kallis as safe hands as ever at the first slip.
Just before reaching the halfway mark, two laxmis conspired to give Daredevils another blow. As Balaji tempted Manpreet Juneja to aim at the sky, laxmiratan Shukla came charging in from the deep to dive full ahead and dismiss the third DD batsman.
After Manpreet's contribution of eight runs, Naman Ojha went just a run further before setting up an easy catch for lee off Rajat Bhatia.
Johan Botha too made no effort in trying to bring some stability as the South African went for a casual reverse sweep, and instead exposed his left leg for a leg before to give Bhatia another wicket.
Narine, still left with his three overs, struck on the very first ball of the 16th over. Irfan Pathan tried in vain to read Narine and ended up walking back at a score of four, DD at 97, as Manoj Tiwary caught him easily at the offside. In his next over, Narine caught Andre Russell.
Daredevils' lone warrior of the day - Jayawardene, after hitting DD's only six - departed at 66 in the penultimate over, Narine this time taking the catch off lee. The last over of Narine and the first half of the match saw Ashish Nehra getting caught by Shukla and Shahbaz Nadeem getting run out as Narine finished with 4/13 and Delhi at 128.
With a seemingly easy target, KKR also started on a bad note. After Irfan did not let them open their account in the first over, Nehra sent IPl-5 final hero Manvinder Bisla packing at four, KKR at five, Unmukt making no mistake this time in catching.
Gambhir then added power to the chase by hitting Irfan for a boundary and a six, the first one of the two of KKR's innings, at the start of the very next over. He and Kallis seemed intent on sending all home earlier, but the latter's departure in the eighth over put a brake on the plan. Chand was all alert this time too, taking the catch at midwicket for Nadeem's first scalp. Kallis had added 23 to help Delhi reach 52 by then.
Daredevils needed 36 off 42 balls when Gambhir was made to head back. The host skipper was mere six runs short of his half century when he was adjudged leg before off Botha. The proceedings then became a bit slow, Tiway's ill-timed try at a sweep in the next over not helping the cause at all as he only ended up setting up an easy catch for wicketkeeper Ojha.
Eoin Morgan, who hit the second six from KKR side, and Yusuf Pathan then completed the formalities with patience in the penultimate over.