Chaminda Vaas wasted little time in adopting the essence of the previous IPL - first-ball wickets, but fifties from Angelo Mathews and Owais Shah averted the bowling version the Brendon McCullum knock in the opener two years ago. Their 131-run partnership in less than 15 overs was just what Kolkata needed after the double-wicket maiden and another double strike that started the event. Good old-fashioned followed by rebuilding and the late surge were much-needed and much-denied relief from a rather unendurable opening ceremony - featuring faded stars and imitators of former greats - that delayed the toss by 27 minutes.
You can take Vaas out of swing bowling, but not swing bowling out of Vaas. He started on target, swinging the ball late, and Manoj Tiwary fell over playing the first ball, and lobbed it straight to midwicket. Three balls later, new captain Sourav Ganguly edged to first slip, and the bowling version of the Brendon McCullum innings in the opener two years ago - against the same team incidentally - couldn't be ruled out. Cheteshwar Pujara and Brad Hodge fell on the same score after having staged a semi-recovery with a 31-run stand.
Pragyan Ojha and Andrew Symonds wasn't what Mathews and Shah would have hoped for. In eight overs between them, their accurate and smart mid-innings bowling went for 45 runs despite expensive last overs that went for 21 runs.
That was just the momentum the stumbling innings needed, taking Kolkata to 103 for 4 after 16 overs. Shah, who had been quiet until then, went after the returning Vaas, hitting him for a six and four and damaging his figures. Mathews, who had started with a top-edged six first ball but had punished the youngster Jaskaran Singh, followed it up and launched his countryman over long-off.
With the score reading 121 for 4 after 17 overs, Gilchrist made two bold moves. T Suman bowled the 18th over, and was punished by Mathews who reached his fifty in that over. He carried the momentum into the 19th over, hurting RP Singh too with straight powerful hitting. Jaskaran, preferred to Vaas for the last over, bowled three yorkers and a good slower delivery, but still went for 10.