Three sixes in four deliveries by Thisara Perera proved decisive as Sunrisers Hyderabad moved to the top of the Pepsi Indian Premier League table with a five-wicket victory over Kings XI Punjab at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday.
The Sri Lanka all-rounder ended unbeaten on 23 off just 11 deliveries, adding to an earlier effort by Hanuma Vihari (46 off 39 balls) as the hosts reached their 124 victory target with seven balls to spare.
Those performances came on the back of some outstanding bowling earlier by the Hyderabad attack, led by the new Purple Cap holder Amit Mishra after he claimed two for 29 to become leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 11 scalps.
Dale Steyn (1-14), Ishant Sharma (2-29) and Karan Sharma (2-19) also played key roles, with Adam Gilchrist (26 off 25) top scoring for the visitors, who had batted first after winning the toss.
They lost the early wicket of Mandeep Singh (10) after he top-edged Ishant in the third over and Quinton de Kock did superbly running back towards third man to take a well-judged catch.
Gilchrist found his range in the fifth over when he flayed Perera for three fours in four deliveries, but he then succumbed after pulling Karan down the throat of Ishant at deep midwicket.
His partner Paul Valthaty (six) followed two balls later when he lifted the same bowler to Perera at long-on, shortly before the 50 was raised in the 10th over.
New batsman Piyush Chawla (23 off 15) threatened to get things going with two sixes off Karan in the next over, but he was cut down to size by Akshath Reddy, who combined with Perera to initiate a simple run-out at the non-strikers end.
Gurkeerat Singh raised the 100 in the 16th over with a straight six off Mishra, but five wickets in 10 deliveries late in the innings, including that of David Hussey (22 off 24), saw Punjab end on 123 for nine.
The chase began horribly for the home side as De Kock again flopped with a duck to go with two on his IPL debut after he was cleaned up by a brilliant Praveen Kumar delivery in the first over.
Akshath Reddy (19) and Vihari got the chase back on track with a fine 48-run second-wicket stand, before the former was excellently caught one-handed by veteran Azhar Mahmood off Manpreet Gony at mid-off – the fielder sticking out his right hand and the ball sticking.
And after the 50 came up in the ninth over, Vihari fell rather softly as he picked out Hussey at short cover off Chawla, ending a partnership of 22.
Cameron White (16) and Biplab Samantray (10) were next to go, falling in successive overs to Gony and Mahmood respectively, throwing a bit of a spanner into the works with 27 required off 23 and two new men at the crease.
But Perera ensured there was no further drama, tucking into Mahmood and sending his team to the summit.
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD: CL White (capt), NLTC Perera, Q de Kock (wk), GH Vihari, A Ashish Reddy, KV Sharma, BB Samantray, A Mishra, DW Steyn, I Sharma, PA Reddy
KINGS XI PUNJAB: AC Gilchrist (capt & wk), Mandeep Singh, PC Valthaty, DJ Hussey, Azhar Mahmood, M Vohra, Gurkeerat Singh, PP Chawla, P Kumar, MS Gony, AD Mascarenhas
