MS Dhoni and Subramaniam Badrinath smashed half-centuries as Chennai sealed a six-wicket IPL victory over Mohali at Dharamsala.
Shaun Marsh made Chennai pay dearly for lapses in the field as he smashed an unbeaten 88 and, with excellent support from Irfan Pathan (44 not out) and Kumar Sangakkara (33), powered Kings XI to a formidable 192 for three.
In reply, Badrinath (53) and Suresh Raina (46) kept Mohali in the hunt before Dhoni (54 not out) finished off the chase with a couple of towering sixes.
The victory, with two deliveries to spare, lifts Chennai to second in the table and their superior net run rate all but assures them of a place in the semi-final later this week.
Mohali signalled aggressive intent at the start and maintained the tempo thanks to some poor fielding from Mohali.
Mahela Jayawardene smashed Sudeep Tyagi for two sixes in the first over and went on contribute 21 in an opening stand worth 34 before Tyagi took an outstanding catch at the mid-on to remove the Sri Lanka batsman.
Albie Morkel, however, put down a far more simple catch from Marsh in the next over while the batsman was on 10, a missed opportunity which proved costly for Mohali.
Marsh and Sangakkara rebuilt nicely and got Mohali close to the 100-run mark with a 56-run stand for the second wicket.
Sangakkara found the boundaries regularly and had looked in supreme touch until he went down on one knee to swipe off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin across the line, missed completely and was bowled.
Yuvraj Singh's cheap dismissal then gave Mohali a glimmer of hope, but Pathan quickly closed the door with a solid batting performance which helped Mohali to a strong total.
Marsh, who was dropped again at the start of the 19th over, put on 99 with Pathan and en route reached his seventh IPL half-century with a towering six off Raina.
Ramesh Powar then gave Mohali a strong start in the field by removing Matthew Hayden for five in his second over with the new ball.
Powar struck again in his next over to get rid of the other opener, Murali Vijay, but Raina and Badrinath revived the chase with a 62-run stand.
Raina hit three sixes and five fours and perished attempting a big shot off Juan Theron in the 10th over, but Badrinath forged on and together with Dhoni kept Chennai in contention.
Badrinath fell just after reaching his half-century and the Super Kings were left needing 45 from 20 deliveries at that stage.
Dhoni, however, upped the tempo and unleashed an array of attacking strokes as Chennai raced across the line.
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.
