It was a expected to be a close battle that hardly looked like one. The Pune Warriors laid their arms in a hurry and almost gave the impression of having resigned much before the last ball was bowled.

The verdict was a much-needed victory – with seven wickets and 14 deliveries to spare – for Kings XI Punjab. In what was the third match for both teams, Punjab’s first win also resulted in Pune’s first defeat.

Put in, Pune set a target of just 116 after Man-of-the-Match Dmitri Mascarenhas struck five times to become an unlikely bowling hero. When Punjab chased, Shaun Marsh showed the way with an unbeaten half-century.

In its campaign opener, Pune had managed to defend 122 against Mumbai Indians but its bowling resources proved ineffective this evening.

Marsh walked in at the fall of Paul Valthaty to the first ball of the innings and came out unbeaten at 64 off 54 deliveries studded with seven boundaries and a six.

The Aussie, dropped by Dinda off Ashish Nehra when on 41, helped build the innings in the company of skipper Adam Gilchrist with a 50-run second-wicket stand. He finished off the job on hand with Piyush Chawla with an unfinished partnership of 46 runs.

Marsh produced the kind of innings that brought back memories of his fine run in the inaugural edition of the IPL in 2008 when he was the leading scorer with 616 runs.

Earlier, the Pune innings lacked big partnerships – the highest was worth 26 runs – and the regular fall of wickets meant the Kings XI stayed upbeat throughout the innings. The fact that Pune innings – slowed down by 54 dot balls – folded in 19 overs reflected the dominance of Kings XI in the field.

Mascarenhas struck twice in an over and later returned to straightaway provide the breakthrough by sending back dangerman Robin Uthappa. At the ‘death’, he got rid of top-scorer Mithun Manhas and Rahul Sharma to hasten the end.

Mascarenhas also became the ninth bowler – and the only one from Kings XI Punjab – to take five wickets in the competition.

Perhaps influenced by last night’s thunderstorm and rain that hit the city, Gilchrist chose to field and the move clicked.

The run-out of opener Jesse Ryder proved that Pune had indeed taken off on the wrong foot. Ganguly, who looked in good touch during his short stay, and Marlon Samuels fell in the space of four deliveries to leave the Kings XI supporters jubilant.

Thereafter, Robin Uthappa and Manhas did their bit but could not steer the team into the comfort zone. The eventual 115 was never going to be enough.

Scoreboard

Pune Warriors: J. Ryder (run out) 7 (11b, 1x4), S. Ganguly c Marsh b Mascarenhas 16 (9b, 3x4), M. Samuels b Mascarenhas 2 (12b), R. Uthappa c Bipul b Mascarenhas 17 (16b, 1x6), A. Mathews lbw b Harmeet 11 (9b, 2x4), M. Manhas b Mascarenhas 31 (28b, 3x4, 1x6), S. Smith b Chawla 13 (13b, 1x4), M. Pandey c D. Hussey b Harmeet 0 (3b), Rahul c Mandeep b Mascarenhas 2 (4b), A. Nehra (not out) 2 (4b), A. Dinda (run out) 2 (5b); Extras (b-4, 1b-3, w-5): 12; Total (in 19 overs): 115.

Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Ryder), 2-28 (Ganguly), 3-29 (Samuels), 4-51 (Mathews), 5-77 (Uthappa), 6-99 (Smith), 7-100 (Pandey), 8-108 (Manhas), 9-110 (Rahul).

Kings XI bowling: Praveen 4-0-19-0, Awana 4-0-18-0, Mascarenhas 4-0-25-5, Harmeet 3-0-23-2, Chawla 4-0-23-1.

Kings XI Punjab: P. Valthaty b Dinda 0 (1b), A. Gilchrist c Smith b Mathews 21 (17b, 3x4), S. Marsh (not out) 64 (54b, 7x4, 1x6), Mandeep c Smith b Rahul 10 (10b, 1x4), P. Chawla (not out) 21 (24b, 3x4); Total (for three wkts. in 17.4 overs): 116.

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Valthaty), 2-50 (Gilchrist), 3-70 (Mandeep).