20 overs Kings XI Punjab 174 for 3 (Jayawardene 93*, Sangakkara 52) v Deccan Chargers

The breathtaking hilly surroundings in Dharamsala were rendered invisible via a night game, but two of the most graceful batsmen going around gathered runs in a manner befitting the serene small town. Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara brought out their technical expertise to score fifties on a difficult pitch to take Kings XI Punjab to a strong total. The Deccan Chargers bowlers were back to type, going for 76 in the last five; Jayawardene got 57 off the last 18 balls he faced. Uncultured shots were conspicuous by absence.

It was a dry surface covered in grass from good-length area on one end to just back of a length on the other. Anything pitched in the grassy areas got extra bounce and seam movement. Even Mitchell Marsh, a military medium bowler, managed to trouble the batsmen. Ryan Harris used the conditions best, removing Shaun Marsh for a duck, with the extra bounce, and then not giving the Sri Lankan batsmen anything in the non-grassy zone.

Mitchell and RP, though, didn't manage to hit the right lengths consistently. RP let Sangakkara off with a half-volley in his first over, and followed up with two to Jayawardene in his second. In between, though, he got one to pitch at the edge of the grassy area, and it kicked up sharply towards the temple. It took all of Jayawardene's skills to drop his wrists and get his head out of the way. Sangakkara applauded at the other end. And then proceeded to show two classical drives, either side of the wicket, to pitched-up deliveries from Mitchell in the last over of the Powerplay, by which point Punjab had moved to 43, out of which Sangakkara had contributed 26 off 21.

Even as Jayawardene struggled to get the timing right in the middle overs, Sangakkara kept playing the pretty strokes, getting 26 more off the next 15 balls he faced. Rahul Sharma, who had dropped Jayawardene when on 21 off 23, came to make good for it by removing Sangakkara with the second ball he bowled. Or so he thought. Next four overs went for just 12, with Yuvraj Singh and Jayawardene struggling with the extra bounce, but there was another think coming.

In the 16th over, Jayawardene, 36 off 44 then, smashed Rahul for a six and a four, the latter thanks to a misfield by Harris at extra cover. The 17th over, from RP, went for five back-to-back boundaries from Jayawardene. The fifth of the lot, a yorker, squeezed past short fine, was the only one off a good delivery.

In the 19th, even Harris bowled length and Jayawardene and Yuvraj took 18 runs off it, double of what he had gone for in the first three. Bravely Gilchrist invited RP to bowl the last over. The bowler duly brought up his fifty by going for 14 runs, and he had Yuvraj to thank for. The batsman holed out to long-off, and didn't cross over, an act that would have allowed Jayawardene to play the last delivery.