Gambhir happy with win, Mahela rues quick wickets

 Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir was ecstatic as the defending champions made a winning start to their title defence, beating Delhi Daredevils by six wickets convincingly in the Indian Premier League (IPL) opener here Wednesday.

Gambhir lauded his bowlers for restricting the visitors to 128.

"Restricting the opposition to 128 was a fantastic effort. We are a very good fielding side as well. I still feel Balaji did a very good job, so did Binga (Brett Lee)," said Gambhir.

"Overall everyone did a very good job. 150 was a good total, but we wanted to be positive when we started the chase. Points on the table is always very satisfying," he added.

Knight Riders's mystery spinner Sunil Narine, who bagged four for 13, was the key in bowling put Daredevils for a paltry total. Narine was also adjudged as Man of the Match.

Narine said the track as the Den was offering more spin that last year.

"It assists the spinners a lot, everyone played their part. Lit more turn and bounce than last year," he said.

Delhi Daredevils skipper Mahela Jayawardene blamed loss of too many quick wickets for their six-wicket loss to Kolkata Knight Riders in the opening game of the Indian Premier League at the Eden Gardens here Wednesday.

"On this pitch, 150 was a good score but we kept on losing wickets at regular intervals which cost us 20-30 runs in the end, which eventually cost us the match. The pitch was slow and in the effort to pace up the scoring we lost too many wickets which made the difference in the end," Jayawardene said after the match.

The Sri Lankan, who top scored with 66 runs, hoped his batsmen do not repeat the mistake of losing their wickets cheaply.

Jayawardene also said his inexperienced batting line up found it difficult to read KKR's mystery offie Sunil Narine who took four wickets to restricts the Daredevils to 128.

"We have quite a few youngsters in the team who have never played Narine and obviously he was a handful for them. Narine bowled very well not only to stifle the scoring but also took wickets at crucial intervals. But as the tournament progresses they will learn," said Jayawardene.

The skipper also said dashing opener Virender Sehwag who missed the game due to injury is likely to play in the next match.

"We did not want to risk him as he just recuperated from injury so gave him more time to rest and practice. Hopefully he will be available for the next game," added Jayewardene.