Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir became the first pair to register two successive opening century partnerships in the Indian Premier League as Kolkata Knight Riders trounced Delhi Daredevils by eight wickets yesterday

Kolkata captain Gambhir led from the front with a fluent 69 off 56 balls to end the team’s losing run at the Feroz Shah Kotla.

Fellow opener Uthappa (47 off 34 balls) helped the team get off to a superb start as he and Gambhir raised 106 runs in 11.5 overs to chase down Delhi's target of 161 in the 19th over.

It was their first win after a string of four defeats and all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan believes it has given them an outside chance of making the play-off cut.

“It was a much needed win for us, hopefully we can kick on from here and achieve better things," said Hasan.

“As a squad we are tough enough and we believe it’s possible to reach the last four. It’s not going to be easy but with the squad we have, we can pull off the miracle.”

The Bangladeshi all-rounder, who was pick of the Kolkata bowlers with figures of one for 13 in four overs, praised his captain and said the out of favour India opener’s hardwork was bearing fruits.

“Gambhir works really hard and now his hardwork in the nets is paying off. This is his home ground and he loves it here so it wasn’t surprising to see him score here. He has been terrific for us.”

Gambhir had a disastrous start to the tournament with scores of 0, 0, 0, 1, 45 and 6 in his first six games before notching scores of 54 and 69 in this match.

The Kolkata captain was determined not to repeat the mistakes of the last game against Rajasthan Royals when they lost six wickets for two runs and lost from a winning position. 

“We wanted someone to bat through and luckily it was me today. Runs on the board is always a benefit, but this was a good wicket – it was coming on nicely. 

“We have a lot of talent in the team and we need to finish more games."

Gambhir is increasingly looking nothing like the batsman who struggled so much to make a single run at the start of the season. 

His second scoring shot was an emphatic pull shot for four off Wayne Parnell. His timing was so good at times that once a clip off the pad flew for six over deep midwicket off Laxmi Ratan Shukla. A confident forward stride and a lofted four over extra cover off Sidharth Kaul was more evidence of the old touch returning.

At the other end, Uthappa hit Shahbaz Nadeem for successive boundaries to bring up the hundred partnership before falling leg-before to Parnell shortly after, Kolkata needing 55 off 49 from that point. 

There were to be no flutters this time, as Gambhir stayed in the middle to push the score past 150 before he was caught-behind off Parnell. 

Kolkata reached home in the 19th over, the ten deliveries remaining further driving home the ease of the win.

Delhi were tied down for 16 overs when they batted, and were 105 for 5 when Jean-Paul Duminy (40 off 28 balls) and Kedar Jadhav (26 off 15 balls) came together scoring 54 off the last four overs.

The openers weren’t able to get going and Kevin Pietersen could not handle the spinners before running himself out. 

Dinesh Karthik made a quick 36, but Delhi still needed a final push if they were to make a competitive total. Duminy and Jadhav provided that, even taking Sunil Narine for 29 in his last two overs, but it barely tested Gambhir and Uthappa.