Restricting DD to 128 was fantastic effort: Gambhir

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir looked a satisfied man with his team's bowling effort after winning the IPL opener against Delhi Daredevils by six wickets, here today.

"Getting points on the board straightaway after two years is a great feeling. It was a fantastic effort by the bowlers to restrict them to 128," Gambhir told at the post-match presentation ceremony.

Gambhir also lauded the effort of his fielders. "We have always been a very good fielding side. Taking catches is always a good thing."

Although Sunil Narine was the stand-out bowler, Gambhir also praised Brett Lee and Lakshmipathy Balaji for their performance.

"It's a very good start for him but Bala (Balaji) and Binga (Lee's nickname) also did well. In this track, 150 was a good total but while chasing 128 we needed to ensure that we don't get into a shell. The first six overs were important and myself and Jacques got a good start," he explained.

Rival captain Mahela Jayawardene also conceded that 145-155 would have been a good score on this track.

"155 would have been competitive but Sunil bowled very well."

Jayawardene said that there were quite a number of new faces in side and they were coming together.

"I am happy with the bowling effort and there have been lot of positives from the match."

Man of the match Narine's assessment of the pitch was that it had "more bounce than last year."

"My idea was to use variations and keep into right areas. I want to enjoy my bowling and continue doing good stuff.