Sourav Ganguly inspires Kolkata at Eden Gardens

They love him at Eden Gardens and Sourav Ganguly did not disappoint his passionate fans. He led Kolkata Knight Riders by example, with the bat and in the field, and inspired their 14-run victory over Delhi Daredevils.

Ganguly began by cracking Farveez Maharoof over point for four in the first over and his eyes lit up when he saw a left-arm spinner getting ready to bowl the second. So what if it was Daniel Vettori? Ganguly cut the second delivery, cover-drove the fourth and swept the last - all to the boundary. He took most of the early strike and frequently found the boundary. His first six came in the 10th over, when he danced down to Paul Collingwood and lofted straight over the bowler's head.

Ganguly and Gayle added 94 for the first wicket, laying the platform for a formidable score. He was eventually dismissed for 56 off 46 balls, but he wasn't done yet.

Delhi had recovered from David Warner's early dismissal, and Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir had added 99 for the second wicket. Gambhir then drove to mid off and set off for a risky single. Ganguly swooped on the ball, picked up and released quickly, his direct hit finding Gambhir short of his crease. He continued to throw himself around in the circle, cutting off fluent drives from Delhi's batsmen. As the chase grew tense, he leapt at cover to hold on to a firm but lofted drive from Kedar Jadhav and flung the ball in the air in celebration. Kolkata were close to victory and Ganguly was their Man of the Match.