Kings XIP romp to easy win in Pune

The Kings XI Punjab got their IPL campaign off to a positive start for the first time in six editions, beating the Pune Warriors by eight wickets and with nearly eight overs to spare on Sunday.

The Kings XI Punjab got their IPL campaign off to a positive start for the first time in six editions, beating the Pune Warriors by eight wickets and with nearly eight overs to spare on Sunday.

Adam Gilchrist's side, unfancied ahead of the game, needed only 12.3 overs to score the 100 runs required after restricting a dire Warriors batting order to 99 for nine in their 20 overs in Pune.

The Kings' bowling attack put forth a superb collective effort, with Azhar Mahmood showing his experience with two wickets at less than five to the over, while Praveen Kumar bagged Manish Pandey and Ross Taylor.

None of the Pune batsmen could get going on what was a good batting track, with Abhishek Nayar top-scoring with 25 at the end, while the big names like Taylor, Marlon Samuels and Angelo Mathews failed.

The Punjab side reached the target without much fuss, and Gilchrist, at the age of 41, showed his enduring class with a quick 15. Mandeep Singh and Manan Vohra, on debut, did the bulk of the scoring though.

Mandeep was bowled by Rahul Sharma for 31, but Vohra did well in his first game and was unbeaten on 43 at the end, with David Hussey next to him.

Pune Warriors: Uthappa, Pandey, Samuels, Suman, Taylor, Nayar, Mathews, Marsh, B Kumar, R Sharma, Dinda

Kings XI Punjab: Gilchrist, Mandeep Singh, D Hussey, Mahmood, Gurkeerat Singh, Vohra, Sathish, Chawla, Awana, P Kumar, Harris

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