Defending Champions Kolkata Knight Riders began their title defence in style as they defeated Mumbai Indians by 7 wickets in the opening match of IPL 8 at the Eden Gardens. Skipper Gautam Gambhir’s fifty along with little cameos from Manish Pandey and Surya Kumar Yadav took their side home with 9 balls to spare.
Chasing 169, Knight Riders lost their opener Robin Uthappa early in the innings and that saw Gambhir teaming up with Pandey in the crease. Pandey got off to an aggressive start while Gambhir began slowly before cashing in on when the spinners came on to bowl. The duo shared an 85 run partnership before Pandey was dismissed by Harbhajan Singh caught by Kieron Pollard for a 24 ball 40.
Surya Kumar walked in and started attacking from the word go. He smashed all the Mumbai bowlers out of the park and looked in an ominous touch, When KKR were cruising home, Gambhir got out for 57 while Surya Kumar, along with Yusuf Pathan saw them through with an unbeaten 42 off 19 balls with five sixes.
Earlier in the day, Mumbai Indians put on 163-3 on the board courtesy some sensible batting from skipper Rohit Sharma and Corey Anderson, who scored unbeaten 98 and 55. The duo shared an unbeaten 131 partnership after Morne Morkel bowled exceptionally well in the initial overs as he ended with a spell of 4-1-18-2, which also earned him the Man of the Match award.