Shoaib Akhtar produced a magical three-over opening spell to demolish the Delhi Daredevils top-order, as Kolkata Knight Riders scripted a sensational 23-run win in the DLF-Indian Premier League encounter at the Eden Gardens here on Tuesday.
For Akhtar, who had to miss two matches on fitness grounds and was doubtful even for this tie, it was a memorable IPL debut. He began in spectacular fashion, sending back Delhi Daredevil skipper Virender Sehwag in the second ball of the opening over.
He removed Gautam Gambhir in his next over and dismissed A.B. de Villiers and Manoj Tiwary off successive balls in his third over to be on a hat-trick. Tillekeratne Dilshan, however, denied Akhtar a hat-trick.
Daredevils fought back through some dogged batting by Dilshan and Amit Mishra. The two added 24 for the sixth wicket to put Daredevils back on track. Just when it looked like Daredevils was in with a chance came the dramatic run out of Dilshan (25, 19b, 5x4). Laxmi Ratan Shukla’s throw sent the Sri Lankan back.
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