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JP Duminy fixed a broken Mumbai Indians innings to lift them to 148 for six.
With the Knight Riders bowlers keeping to a tight line, Mumbai, after winning the toss, slipped to 71 for four and something special was called for from South Africa's newest batting sensation.
Duminy batted with typically unruffled elegance, timing the ball beautifully, to top score for Mumbai with 52 not out off 37 balls with four sixes.
The left-hander got the crowd buzzing when he lashed medium-pacer Laxmi Shukla for two sixes in the 18th over and he was untroubled by either pace or the three-pronged Kolkata spin attack.
Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar charged to 34 off 30 balls to provide some early excitement but then amazingly hit an Ajit Agarkar full toss straight to cover.
Fast bowler Ishant Sharma was especially impressive for Kolkata, taking one for 24 in his four overs, while off-spinner Chris Gayle can also feel extremely proud of his effort, restricting the batsmen to just 21 runs in his four overs and claiming the wicket of dangerous Englishman Graham Napier for a run-a-ball 15.
But Duminy had the final say in impressive fashion as he hit seamer Ashok Dinda for two marvellous straight sixes in the final over to pick up his second IPL half-century.
Duminy's innings was a ripper and Kolkata will require a top-class batting effort on a slowish pitch.
Teams:
Mumbai Indians: Sachin Tendulkar (capt), Sanath Jayasuriya, Ajinkya Rahane, JP Duminy, Graham Napier, Abhishek Nayar, Saurabh Tiwary, Harbhajan Singh, Pinal Shah (wk), Zaheer Khan, Lasith Malinga.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Brendon McCullum (capt), Chris Gayle, Brad Hodge, Sourav Ganguly, Morne van Wyk (wk), Wriddhiman Saha, Laxmi Shukla, Ajit Agarkar, Murali Kartik, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Dinda.
