A clinical Kolkata Knight Riders handed Delhi Daredevils a nine-wicket drubbing to begin their Indian Premier league campaign in style here on Sunday.
Knight Riders shot out a lacklustre Delhi for 98 before cantering home in 14.1 overs with openers skipper Gautam Gambhir (38 not out) and Robin Uthappa (35) sharing a brisk 69-run stand.
Andre Russell (3/24) and 45-year-old Brad Hogg (3/19) were the star bowlers for the home team after Gambhir put the opposition in.
While the two-time champions made an ideal start to the season, a fresh squad, mentored by Rahul Dravid, did not change the fortunes of Delhi who finished seventh out of eight teams in 2015.
Cricket returned to Eden Gardens on the same strip exactly a week after West Indies rode on Carlos Brathwaite six-hitting heroics to lift their second World Twenty20 title and the 25,000-odd Knights fans could not have a better start for Knight Riders, the two-time champions.
Gambhir and Uthappa made batting look easy during the chase as the team completed a convincing win. Gambhir was solid in his 41-ball knock, collecting five fours while Uthappa smashed seven boundaries including a couple of delightful straight drives.
Earlier, a brilliant bowling effort enabled Knight Riders to dismiss Daredevils for a paltry total.
Earlier after KKR elected to field, Chinaman bowler Brad Hogg (3/19) and West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell (3/24) helped to skittle out Delhi for 98 on a strip that had some purchase for the bowlers.
Pacers Russell and John Hastings (2/6) triggered the collapse before the spin duo of Hogg and Piyush Chawla (2/21) came to the party.
Put in, Delhi Daredevils raced to 24 in just 13 balls with Knight Riders having some initial hiccups.
Quinton de Kock looked imperious when he unsettled Umesh Yadav's line with successive four and a six.
The Knight Riders bounced back in the next over with Russell giving twin breakthroughs of de Kock (17 from 10 balls) and Shreyas Iyer (0) before Hasting tightened things up the other end.
Introduced only at midway stage, Knight Riders spin armoury, without their ace weapon Sunil Narine, lived up to the expectation as Hogg and Piyush Chawla foxed a clueless looking Daredevils batting line-up.
Pawan Negi (11) and Sanju Samson (15) tried to repair the damage with a 20-run partnership but Hogg brilliantly set up the former with two dot balls before deceiving the left-hander with his flight to have him stumped.
Coming at No 7, Carlos Brathwaite received a thunderous applause from the KKR supporters as the World T20 hero lived up to the hype with a second-ball six but only to be trapped plumb deceived by a Chawla googly two balls later.
By the end of the powerplay, Delhi had lost two more wickets in the form of Mayank Agarwal (9)and Karun Nair (3) with the score reading 35/4.
With the top-order back in the dugout, the Delhi innings moved forward at a snail's pace. Pawan Negi after a brief partnership of 20 with Sanju Samson got stumped trying to push the accelerator.
After 13 overs, the visitors were left struggling at 84/7 with their hopes pinned on Samson.
But he departed in the very next over edging one to the wicket-keeper.
Thereafter, it was only a matter of time before the Daredevils were bowled out and the inevitable happened in the 18th over.
Earlier, de Kock was deceived by the bounce and took a top edge that Yusuf Pathan almost fumbled at mid off with the ball popping out before taking in his third attempt.
He trapped Iyer lbw in his last ball while at the other end, Hastings bowled a tidy over with five dot balls giving away just one run as boundaries suddenly dried up with two new batsmen at the crease.
Russell's third over proved to be a match-turning from the Knights perspective as Daredevils failed to overcome from the twin setbacks with their young Indian batsman showing little application. Their run-rate was well above eight after the third over and what was needed was smart rotation of strikes but the likes of Mayank Agarwal (9) and Karun Nair (3) perished playing expansive shots.
Brief Scores
DD: 98 (De Kock 17; Hogg 3/19, Russell 3/24) lose to KKR: 99/1 (Gambhir 38*, Uthappa 35) by nine wickets.