The old boys - leg spinner Amit Mishra, featuring in his 100th IPL match, and captain Zaheer Khan - led the way with the ball, smothering Kings XI Punjab to 111 for 9. Then the youngsters took over as Quinton de Kock and Sanju Samson put on a 91-run partnership to seal Daredevils' first points of the season.
While Zaheer gave his team the early spark after choosing to bowl on what he called a "slow surface", Mishra pierced through Kings XI's top and middle order with dip, turn, and sometimes, even a lack of turn. Mishra had Shaun Marsh stumped off his first ball, then dismissed David Miller and Glenn Maxwell in his second over to break the opposition's spine. Three of Kings XI's heaviest scoring batsmen were dismissed in the space of 16 balls, leaving the score at 52 for 4 in the ninth over.
Mishra's bowling was envenomed by Zaheer, who placed a slip and at times, a short leg to capitalise on the nervous batsmen. Daredevils built on the double-strike and sent down six boundary-less overs between the ninth and 14th overs. It was during this phase that Mishra rattled Manan Vohra's leg stump with a wrong' un to claim his fourth wicket in three overs. Kings XI were reeling at 59 for 5 in the 11th, but Zaheer did not call on Mishra to bowl any further.
Kings XI's struggles were not restricted to spin though. Zaheer, who had conceded he had "tried too much" in the first match against Kolkata Knight Riders, found swing right away. His first delivery moved back in and had the extra bounce to rap M Vijay on the thigh pad. That meant the balls that went on with the angle across the right-hander became more effective. Zaheer teased the outside edge regularly in his first spell but he had to wait till his second for a reward. In the 18th over, bowling a mix of slower balls, Zaheer had Mohit Sharma caught at mid-off.
Chris Morris did his part as well, bowling some good yorkers in the slog overs and hustling the opposition with his pace. Offspinner Jayant Yadav strung four quiet overs together, benefited by the Kings XI lower order not knowing whether to attack or defend.
Kings XI made life easier for Daredevils in the chase. De Kock was reprieved twice - Vijay dropped him at deep square leg on 7 before Wriddhiman Saha botched a stumping chance on 22. De Kock, who was rather subdued in the Powerplay, hit rhythm when he cracked three fours off Axar Patel in the eighth over.
Samson came out at No. 3 when Shreyas Iyer was adjudged caught behind despite the Snicko picking up nothing. Samson took nine balls to get off the mark, via a risky pick-up shot off seamer Sandeep Sharma. He was 9 off 18 balls when he charged out to Pardeep Sahu's legspin and launched a full toss over the long-on boundary. Samson then welcomed Maxwell with successive fours while de Kock raised his half-century off 38 balls. Axar bowled Samson for 33 in the 13th over, but de Kock and Pawan Negi saw Daredevils home comfortably.
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