MOHALI: Kings XI Punjab came into the match after suffering two defeats in as many matches and needed to click as a unit to get their campaign back on the track in the ninth season of Indian Premier League.
After bowlers put up a good show to limit Rising Pune Supergiants to 152, the batsmen complemented their effort by chasing down the 153-run target comfortably.
Punjab recorded their first victory of the season in the third match after achieving the target in 18.4 overs with six wickets remaining.
The stage was nicely set for Pune for a big total when Faf du Plessis and Kevin Pietersen were batting but the dismissal of the latter and a mid-innings hiccups prevented them from posting a mammoth score. And Mohit Sharma’s final over, in which he conceded just three runs and took two wickets, did further damage to Pune.
Chasing 153, the hosts survived some anxious moments in the end when Pune leg-spinner Murugan Ashwin triggered a collapse with his triple-strike dismissing Shaun Marsh, Murali Vijay and David Miller in quick succession.
Glenn Maxwell held his nerve to take Punjab home as he smashed an unbeaten 32 off 14 balls studded with three fours and two sixes.
Kings XI got off to a rollicking start courtesy openers Murali Vijay and Manan Vohra, racing to a fifty-run stand in six overs compared to Pune’s 49-1.
Vijay started off with a bang smashing back-to-back fours of spinner Ankit Sharma in the second over. Vijay then hit Pune’s strike bowler Ishant Sharma for a maximum in the next over, the first of the match.
Brief scores: Rising Pune Supergiants 152-7 (Du Plessis 67, Smith 38; Mohit Sharma 3-23) lost to Kings XI Punjab 153-4 (Vijay 53, Vohra 51; M Ashwin 3-36) beat by six wickets.
TODAY’S MATCH:
Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Mumbai Indians
(Hyderabad. Starting 5.30pm)