Irfan Pathan, whose unbeaten knock of 42 helped Delhi Daredevils overwhelm Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL-V match on Thursday, said the Eden Gardens wicket became better owing to the downpour that reduced the match to a 12-over-a-side affair.
Playing a belligerent innings, Pathan launched a late charge with a spate of sixes to lead his side to an 8-wicket victory.
“The wicket just got better. The Eden wicket is generally on the slower side, but it behaved differently this time as the ball came nicely on to the bat. Probably it (the wicket) got settled because of the rain,” said Irfan, who was adjudged Man-of-the-match.
Irfan, whose two sixes off Knight Riders' South African pacer Marchant de Lange turned the tide in Daredevils' favour, said the bowler's pace helped a lot. “His (de Lange) pace, it seemed, was just right for batting on this pitch, Irfan said.
He defended captain Virender Sehwag's decision to field first, saying chasing is always a better option in a shortened game. “In shorter games you generally tend to panic, and if you bat first you do not know what target to set,” he said.
“Morne (Morkel) turned the momentum for us,” Irfan added while applauding his colleague Morne Morkel, who took three for 18 in three overs.
Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir said the failure of the team's top order took the match away from the host.
“It was a close game but it is always difficult when you lose three wickets with 20 runs on the board,” Gambhir said.
The toss was not the deciding factor, he said. “If you play good cricket, the toss cannot be a factor. After losing four quick wickets, we did well to get to 97. But they (Daredevils) played some smart and quality cricket.” Gambhir said.
