Kumar Sangakkara provided a one-man show with the bat before some tight bowling paved the way for the Kings XI Punjab to record their first win of the Indian Premier League against the Mumbai Indians on Friday night.
The Sri Lankan left-hander scored 94 from 56 balls on an evening no other batsman could break 25.
Sangakkara's knock took him to the top of the runscorers' list in the IPL, with 168, as the home side posted 182 all out.
In reply, the visitors, who are yet to taste victory, were always behind the required rate and a steady flow of wickets undermined their hopes of recovering the situation, finally falling 66 runs short.
Brett Lee was the pick of the
Mumbai stand-in captain Harbhajan Singh won the toss and sent the home side in to bat.
After Irfan Pathan (six) fell early, Sangakkara joined Karan Goel at the crease before dominating a 73-run stand.
The left-hander relied on traditional strokeplay to pierce the field during the opening overs, highlighted by a textbook cover drive as he took 18 from one Shaun Pollock over.
Sangakkara's brilliant innings ...
He brought up his half-century from 23 balls with a perfectly-timed cut shot to the point boundary off Dwayne Bravo.
At the other end, Goel was made to battle by Bravo who rattled the grill of the opener's helmet with a short-pitch delivery leaving him with a cut lip.
Goel responded the next ball with an uppercut for six over third man.
But Bravo would have the last laugh in the next over, running out Goel (18) at the wicketkeeper's end following a mix-up.
Yuvraj Singh (18) threatened some fireworks before he was caught by Bravo at long-off, but it was Sangakkara who provided the key contribution as wickets fell around him.
The left-hander was finally dismissed looking to reach his century, but his lofted sweep off Harbhajan failed to clear Dhawal Kulkarni at deep mid-wicket.
Some late blows by Lee (16 not out) gave the innings a late push as they reached a challenging 182 all out.
And it was Lee who provided an early double strike to immediately slow the Indians' reply.
The Australian paceman accepted a sharp return catch from Sanath Jayasuriya (one) before running out countryman Luke Ronchi (11) with the next ball.
The away side's hopes of lifting the run rate in the middle overs were further undermined by the leg spin of Piyush Chawla.
The 19-year-old conceded just 16 runs from his four overs, while adding the wickets of Bravo (23) and Saurabh Tiwary (17).
Pathan then took two wickets in as many balls, dismissing Abhishek Nayar (two) and Harbhajan for a first-ball duck, before Yuvraj's stunning one-hand catch to dismiss Pollock (22) ensured a home win.
Punjab Kings v Mumbai Indians20/20 Scoreboard 25/04/2008
Punjab Kings innings
Goel run out (Bravo/Ronchi) 18 (21)
Pathan c Kulkarni b Nehra 6 (3)
Sangakkara c Kulkarni b Singh 94 (56)
Yuvraj Singh c Bravo b Pollock 18 (9)
Sarwan c Singh b Nehra 7 (9)
Jayawardene c sub (Rahane) b Singh 12 (7)
Sohal c Nehra b Kulkarni 0 (4)
Lee not out 16 (8)
Chawla lbw b Singh 0 (1)
Sreesanth c Ronchi b Kulkarni 0 (1)
V Singh run out (Singh/Ronchi) 4 (2)
Extras 7 (b 1, lb 1 w 4, nb 1)
Total 182 (all out; 20.0 overs)
FoW: 1-8 (Pathan, 1.4 ov), 2-81 (Goel, 8.1 ov), 3-107 (Yuvraj Singh, 10.6 ov), 4-121 (Sarwan, 13.5 ov), 5-152 (Jayawardene, 16.4 ov), 6-155 (Sohal, 17.4 ov), 7-159 (Sangakkara, 18.2 ov), 8-169 (Chawla, 18.6 ov), 9-170 (Sreesanth, 19.2 ov), 10-182 (Singh, 19.6 ov)
Bowling
Pollock 4-0-40-1 (1w)
Nehra 3-0-22-2
Kulkarni 4-0-37-2 (1nb, 1w)
Singh 4-0-32-3 (1w)
Bravo 3-0-27-0
Khote 2-0-22-0
Mumbai Indians innings
Ronchi run out (Lee) 11 (8)
Jayasuriya c & b Lee 1 (7)
Uthappa c Sarwan b Singh 21 (18)
Bravo b Chawla 23 (21)
Tiwary b Chawla 17 (10)
Pollock c Y Singh b Sreesanth 22 (21)
Nayar c Chawla b Pathan (
Singh lbw b Pathan 0 (1)
Khote hit wicket b Sreesanth 8 (7)
Kulkarni not out 2 (16)
Nehra not out 2 (10)
Extras 7 (lb 1, w 4, nb 2)
Total 116 (9 wickets; 20.0 overs)
FoW:1-14 (Jayasuriya, 2.3 ov), 2-14 (Ronchi, 2.4 ov), 3-61 (Bravo, 8.4 ov), 4-65 (Uthappa, 9.1 ov), 5-91 (Tiwary, 12.2 ov), 6-94 (Nayar, 13.1 ov), 7-94 (Harbhajan Singh, 13.2 ov), 8-105 (Pollock, 15.2 ov), 9-110 (Khote, 17.2 ov)
Bowling
Lee 4-0-9-1
Pathan 4-1-19-2 (2w)
V Singh 4-0-40-1 (1w)
Sreesanth 4-0-31-2 (2nb)
Chawla 4-0-16-2 (1w)
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