With a determined display, Pune Warriors took the first step towards salvaging some pride in this edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
A dominating five-wicket victory ended Pune's embarrassing seven-defeat streak and extended Kings XI Punjab's sequence of losses to five.
Making first use of the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium pitch which turned out to be two-paced, Kings' stroke-makers struggled and eventually the host managed 119 for eight — its lowest at home.
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If Pune covered the distance with 17 deliveries to spare, it was mainly because its batsmen learnt from the follies of the host and displayed better stroke selection.
Another factor that contributed to the result was that the discipline of some of the Pune bowlers could not be matched by their counterparts from the Kings.
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For Yuvraj, the victory carried more meaning. After losing the captaincy of Kings XI to Kumar Sangakkara, he was returning to his home venue looking to end Pune's disappointing run. On Sunday, he took two catches and made up for his disappointing bowling by emerging as the match's highest scorer.
In fact, Yuvraj hastened the end by smashing two sixes and as many boundaries in a 22-run over from left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt. But Yuvraj and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala gifted away their wickets to Shalabh Srivastava in the 16th over in their bid to hit the winning stroke.
Although Robin Uthappa, promoted in the order, and Manish Pandey failed to make the most of the pressure-less situation, it did not matter.
The five changes effected by Kings after its humiliating loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday did not alter its fate. In fact, Siddharth Chitnis, David Hussey, Shalabh Srivastava, Mandeep Singh and Bhatt could hardly make their presence felt.
If Kings managed a sub-120 score, it was mainly due to the fact that three of its batsmen — Paul Valthaty, Shaun Marsh and Dinesh Karthik — did not make their wicket count after having spent some time in the middle and scored over run-a-ball.
None of the other batsmen on view could reach double-digits. Only three overs produced more than 10 runs.
Rahul Sharma shines
Rahul Sharma once again caught the eye and walked away with the Man-of-the-Match award. The local leg-spinner not only got rid of the dangerous openers Adam Gilchrist and Valthaty, but also showed that it was possible to remain economical.
Once the rich creamy layer was off, Bhuveneshwar Kumar, Mitchell Marsh and Wayne Parnell also collected two each, with the last named proving to be most stingy on this day.
A couple of dropped catches did not prove costly as the Kings batsmen kept trading wickets in search for quick runs. The runs did not come as briskly, but the regular loss of wickets ensured a low target for Pune.
Kings XI Punjab: A. Gilchrist c Jhunjhunwala b Rahul 3 (8b), P. Valthaty c Kumar b Rahul 23 (22b, 4x4), S. Marsh b Kumar 32 (28b, 3x4, 1x6), D. Karthik c Jhunjhunwala b Marsh 30 (27b, 3x4), D. Hussey c Uthappa b Kumar 4 (5b), Mandeep Singh c Yuvraj b Parnell 6 (11b), S. Chitnis c Jhunjhunwala b Parnell 9 (9b, 1x4), R. Harris c Yuvraj b Marsh 4 (4b, 1x4), P. Kumar (not out) 3 (5b), S. Srivastava (not out) 1 (1b); Extras (b-1, lb-3): 4, Total (for eight wickets in 20 overs): 119.
Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-50, 3-80, 4-95, 5-100, 6-110, 7-114, 8-116.
Pune Warriors bowling: B. Kumar 3-0-14-2, Wagh 2-0-18-0, Parnell 4-0-12-2, Rahul 4-0-17-2, Yuvraj 2-0-17-0, M. Marsh 4-0-26-2, Jhunjhunwala 1-0-11-0.
Pune Warriors: J. Ryder c Hussey b Bhatt 15 (18b, 3x4), M. Pandey b Kumar 28 (30b, 3x4), R. Uthappa c Srivastava b Harris 22 (18b, 3x4), Yuvraj Singh c and b Srivastava 35 (15b, 5x4, 2x6), C. Ferguson (not out) 6 (14b), A. Jhunjhunwala c Gilchrist b Srivastava 0 (3b), M. Marsh (not out) 2 (6b), Extras (b-4, lb-1, nb-1, w-6): 12; Total (for five wickets in 17.1 overs): 120.
Fall of wickets: 1-32, 2-69, 3-84, 4-116, 5-117.
Kings XI Punjab bowling: P. Kumar 4-1-17-1, Harris 4-0-26-1, Srivastava 3-0-20-2, Bhatt 4-0-35-1, Valthaty 2.1-0-17-0.
Man-of-the-Match: Rahul Sharma.