Pietersen fails but his Daredevils still sparkle

The controversial batsman struck a modest 14 off 18 balls in his first meaningful innings since the England and Wales Cricket Board announced he would be subject to a ‘reintegration process’ back into the national set-up.

It did not matter, however, as Unmukt Chand plundered 40 off 27 balls as the Daredevils made 160-8 before early wickets undermined Kolkata’s chase in Centurion.

Irfan Pathan, Umesh Yadav and Morne Morkel each took two wickets as the Knight Riders finished on 108-7, having been 3-3 at one stage.

There was further concern for Kolkata when Jacques Kallis retired injured and it fell to Saurabh Tiwary to top score for the Knight Riders with 33 from 38 balls.

Mahela Jayawardene and Virender Sehwag had put on 36 for the first wicket for Delhi, who were put into bat, before the former was bowled for 21 by West Indies’ spinner Sunil Narine, allowing Pietersen to make his long-awaited entrance.

Pietersen could not take advantage of being dropped twice when he perished after pulling Brett Lee to Narine at deep midwicket.

In the other game on Saturday, former Yorkshire batsman Jacques Rudolph and Henry Davids got the boundaries flowing in the opening match of the tournament proper, the Titans duo orchestrating a 39-run victory over Perth Scorchers.

Nathan Rimmington left it late to restrict the hosts to 163 at Centurion, with Rudolph finishing unbeaten on 83 from 59 balls and Davids having contributed 54 from 38.

The Scorchers’ patchy batting hindered their ability to chase the target despite Mitchell Marsh’s unbeaten 52, with Cornelius de Villiers claiming 3-16 from four overs.

Rudolph and Davids produced a steady stream of boundaries in the first half of the Titans’ innings, the South African pair sharing a first-wicket stand of 109.

But Davids fell shortly after reaching his half-century, courtesy of Michael Beer, with his replacement Martin van Jaarsveld dismissed for a modest 19 by Joe Mennie.

Rudolph was just an observer as the Titans collapsed in the final over, Rimmington taking the wickets of Faarhad Behardien and David Wiese with consecutive balls. Scorchers needed 164 runs to win but the quick losses of Shaun Marsh and Marcus North - both snared by De Villiers - did not help their cause, Marsh caught at slip by Van Jaarsveld for seven before North edged onto his stumps for nought.

Simon Katich was dropped clumsily by De Villiers but Alfonso Thomas kept the wickets coming as the Australians fell well short.