Shoaib inspires Knight Riders

Shoaib Akhtar returned figures of 4-11 in Kolkata's thrilling win © Getty Images

Buy this photo

Shoaib Akhtar put months of turmoil behind him by taking four wickets on his Indian Premier League debut to help the Kolkata Knight Riders to a 23-run win over the Delhi Daredevils.

Shoaib - available for selection after a five-year ban imposed by the Pakistan Cricket Board was suspended for a month pending an appeal - wasted little time in making an impact, claiming all his victims inside the first five overs of the Delhi innings. He finished with figures of 4-11 from three overs.

Kolkata opener Salman Butt’s 48 was the best individual total of a low-scoring encounter that saw the Daredevils fail to overhaul the Knight Riders’ meagre total of 133 for six.

Amit Mishra’s 31 was as good as it got for the visitors, who were bowled out for just 110 inside 18 overs.

The victory continues a marked turnaround in fortunes for the Knight Riders, who are now on a three-match winning streak after suffering four successive defeats.

A late cameo by Laxmi Shukla sealed the Daredevils’ fate. Introduced in the 18th over, he needed just five balls to claim the three wickets required to polish off the Delhi tail and condemn the visitors to their fourth straight loss.

Kolkata skipper Sourav Ganguly won the toss and chose to bat, but Aakash Chopra managed just 13 before falling to Farveez Maharoof.

Ganguly himself was bowled between bat and pad by Yo Mahesh for seven, but David Hussey joined Butt to take the score to 87.

The latter sliced Manesh to third man two runs short of a half-century, and Tatenda Taibu and Shukla failed to inconvenience the Delhi attack too much.

But Hussey compile a diligent run-a-ball 31 before he was caught at long-on by Manoj Tiwary off Maharoof.

If Delhi thought their target was achievable, they reckoned without an inspired performance by Shoaib.

The Pakistan paceman claimed his first scalp with just his second delivery in the IPL, enticing a thick edge from Virender Sehwag to Saha.

Gautam Gambhir fell in his next over as Hussey took the catch at point, and Shoaib took two wickets in two deliveries in his third over to see off AB De Villiers and Tiwary and further underline his intentions for the coming weeks.

After Shikhar Dhawan fell for seven, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mishra added 32 for the fifth wicket before Dhawan was run out attempting a quick single.

Maharoof fell for 10 five overs later to leave the visitors 101 for seven, but it was dismissal of Mishra for 31 that sounded the death knell as Shukla claimed the first of three wickets in a breathtaking finale.

Pradeep Sangwan hit his first ball to Hussey at long-on and, after failing with his hat-trick ball to Mahesh, Shukla took care of business with the next delivery to end Delhi’s innings.