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Knight Riders rocked by Vaas in first over

Sri Lankan veteran Chaminda Vaas rocked the Kolkata Knight Riders early with two wickets in the first over of the match.

Vaas had Manoj Tiwary caught at midwicket off the first ball of the innings.

Three balls later, he had Kolkata skipper Sourav Ganguly edging one to the slips, which was safely pouched by Anirudh Singh at the first slip.

Kolkata stunned defending champions Deccan Chargers by 11 runs in the opening game of the third season of the IPL.

Photographs: Getty Images

Hodge, Pujara steady Kolkata

Australian Brad Hodge and young Cheteshwar Pujara played sensibly and steadied the innings after the early jolts.

However, just when they managed to have calmed nerves a bit, Pujara played a loose shot and was caught by Pragyan Ojha at long on off RP Singh for 10.

Kolkata further slumped, when Hodge was caught at short point by Herschelle Gibbs off the debutant Jaskaran Singh after scoring 13.

At the halfway stage, Kolkata were struggling at 57 for four.

Mathews strikes it rich

With the visitors struggling at 31 for four in the fifth over, Sri Lankan all-rounder Angelo Mathews and England's Owais Shah brought them back with brisk half-centuries.

Making his debut in the IPL, Mathews started the innings with a top-edge six off Jaskaran Singh.

Mathews played the aggressor and showed scant respect for his compatriot Vaas as he lofted him straight down the ground for the second six of the over that fetched 18 runs.

He completed his half-century in style, carting T Suman high into the stands at wide long-on.

It took the young Sri Lankan just 38 deliveries to reach his fifty.

Shah hits maiden IPL fifty

Owais let Mathews play all the shots, while milking the bowling from the other end.

Shah got his first six of the innings when he slog swept Symonds over midwicket in the 15th over. In the next over, Ojha dropped short twice and was punished for a boundary each by both the batsmen through the midwicket region.

Shah and Mathews had repaired the damage and revived the innings with an unbeaten 130-run partnership in 90 deliveries for the fifth wicket.

The England batsman, in the process completed his maiden IPL half-century from 43 deliveries with a single on the off-side against Jaskaran in the final over and then slammed the young pacer for a six over square leg.

The last five overs fetched 69 runs for Kolkata as they finished on 161 for four in their 20 overs.

Chargers off to a flying start

Chasing a competitive total, Deccan Chargers were off to a flying start. Skipper Adam Gilchrist was lucky to get reprieve early in the innings when he was dropped by Brad Hodge in the slips for two.

VVS Laxman joined the party too as he creamed the Charl Langeveldt and Ishant Sharma for boundaries.

Both Gilchrist and Laxman were looking to attack as the Chargers raced to 50 in the fifth over.

Kartik strikes the first blow for KKR

With Chargers looking to run away from the game, Ganguly introduced spin in the form of Murali Kartik, who kept a tight line and steadied the run flow.

With the runs drying up, Laxman went for an expansive sweep and only to top-edge it and was safely pouched by the bowler himself.

Hodge then picked up the dangerous Gilchrist, who was caught in the deep by Manoj Tiwary for a well made 54. In the next over, Langeveldt sent his compatriot Herschelle Gibbs back to the pavilion for just 19.

From an impressive 61-1, Deccan were reduced to 102-3.

Chargers lose way in middle overs

With the wickets falling steadily and run rate steadily rising, Chargers did their cause no good as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Much was expected from Andrew Symonds but he failed to deliver the goods as he was sent packing for just 5.

Rohit Sharma too played a bizarre shot and was out cheaply for 13 as Chargers lost their way.

Kolkata pull off a magnificent win

Knight Riders won the match as their bowlers kept a tight line and never allowed the Deccan Chargers to run away with the game.

Langeveldt and Ishant bowled a superb 19th and 20th over as KKR sealed the match and registered their first win of the tournament by 11 runs.

Mathews was named the man-of-the-match for his magnificent effort with both bat and ball.