Shaun Marsh sizzled on his Indian Premier League debut and blasted unbeaten 85 off 62 balls as Kings XI Punjab thumped Deccan Chargers by seven wickets with seven balls to spare to coast to their third win of the tournament in Hyderabad on Thursday night.
Chasing 165, the Punjab side romped home in 18.5 overs losing just three wickets. Marsh, son of former Australian opener Geoff Marsh, was the outstanding performer for the winners with a belligerent half century that included 11 boundaries besides a six off Nuwan Zoysa.
Earlier, Rohit Sharma stood tall amid ruins and hammered an unbeaten 42-ball 76 as Deccan Chargers posted 164 for eight despite a middle and lower order collapse.
Right since winning the toss, the Punjab XI did everything right and were always in firm control of the proceedings.
They began their chase on a positive note with Marsh imposing himself on the Deccan bowlers. Though it was his shot that brushed Sanjay Bangar's fingers before hitting the wicket with non-striker Ramnaresh Sarwan (15) well outside the crease, the youngster made amends by scoring at a brisk rate.
The hosts managed to hit back with D Kalyankrishna removing Kumar Sangakkara (3) and Zoysa taking a catch off his own bowling to scalp Yuvraj Singh (14).
Marsh, however, found an able ally in Mahela Jayawardene (45 not out) and the duo milked the Deccan attack with consummate ease to take the match away from the hosts.
Jayawardene's sedate knock came off 23 balls and included six fours and a six. Jayawardene hit the winning runs when he elegantly drove RP Singh for a boundary.
Earlier put into bat, it was a slipshod show by the Deccan batsmen with only Rohit, skipper VVS Laxman (48) and Shahid Afridi (13) managing double digit scores.
Rohit's magnificent knock was product of his 42-ball stay in the middle which included 10 hits to the fence besides a couple of sixes.
Deccan Chargers began with a flourish but Irfan Pathan bowled Adam Gilchrist (6) in the fourth over, while Piyush Chawla soured Herschelle Gibbs' (7) IPL debut to jolt the hosts.
Though Laxman and Rohit showed signs of a recovery, Chawla struck again removing the Deccan captain, which left the hosts 67 for three in nine overs.
Afridi (13) hit Gagandeep Singh for a huge six but a rush of blood did him in and in the next delivery, Yuvraj Singh took a skier in his fourth attempt to cut short the Pakistani all-rounder's stay in the middle.
Rohit continued playing his shots but wickets kept tumbling at the other end with Y Venugopal Rao (1), Sanjay Bangar (3), Zoysa (1) and Kalyankrishna (3) failing to make any mark.
Kings XI leggie Piyush Chawla once again impressed with a three-wicket haul, conceding 28 runs in his four overs.
