A total of 189 was always going to be a stiff one but never during the chase did the batting of Paul Valthaty flounder and nor did it ever look like the side was going down. Kings XI Punjab chased down the total with consummate ease in the end, winning with five balls and six wickets to spare to hand the fancied Chennai Super Kings a defeat. 
The partnership of Valthaty and Adam Gilchrist started off well, but was helped in its own small way by a drop from Albie Morkel. Making good of the chance, Valthaty went berserk, as he hit a couple of boundaries in the fourth over off Tim Southee to inject the necessary momentum into the innings.
Morkel was greeted with 16 off his first over despite the dismissal of Gilly, while the momentum was revived once again with the introduction of Scott Styris who went for 13 in the tenth over. At the half way mark, the side was 99 for 1 and while Shaun Marsh was run-out, it did not deter the hard-hitting Valtathaty at the other end.
There was a minor stutter when two wickets fell in quick succession but Valthaty got to his century in style, off 51 deliveries and guided the side to a comprehensive win. He remained unbeaten on 120 off 63 balls, which had 19 boundaries and a couple of sixes in it as Punjab went on to win their first game.
At 0/2, Chennai Super Kings seemed to have gotten into big trouble on a track that showed enough movement for the pace bowlers. Then came a stand between S Badrinath and Murali Vijay that almost took the game away from the opposition. They started off slowly, getting to 31/2 in the sixth over but once the fielding restrictions were off, the two got more freedom to get going.
The run-rate got to six runs per over in the ninth over, post which Piyush Chawla was smashed for 12 runs in the tenth to take the score to 67 at the half-way stage. However, by that time, the momentum had shifted totally to the Super Kings and the pair of Badri and Vijay took full toll.
Badri was content to rotate the strike but did not lose any opportunity to go after the bowling. However, it was at the other end that Vijay found form on a quickly-turning placid pitch as he belted four sixes and six boundaries to get to 74. Badrinath made 66 and the final flourish was provided by the batting of MS Dhoni whose belligerent 20-ball innings got him 43.
At that time, the target of 189 seemed much more than what one would have thought the opposition would have got.