Balaji hat-trick seals win

Mahendra Singh Dhoni © Getty Images

Lakshmipathy Balaji became the first man to take a hat-trick in the Indian Premier League as the Chennai Super Kings recorded an enthralling 18-run win over Kings XI Punjab.

A fourth-wicket partnership of 91 between Subramaniam Badrinath (64) and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (60 not out) helped the Super Kings on their way to a total of 181 from 20 overs.

Punjab's reply started well enough as opener Shaun Marsh posted 58 but the middle order failed to spark and the match was beyond the visitors by the time paceman Balaji struck in the final over to remove Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla and VRV Singh in successive deliveries.

The win lifts Chennai to second place in the IPL points table with six wins from nine matches, while Punjab are third, two points behind but with a match in hand.

The Super Kings made a stuttering start to their innings and found themselves two men down inside three overs.

Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan made just eight before he was caught by Mahela Jayawardene at first slip off the bowling of Sreesanth, while Sreesanth struck again 10 deliveries later as Karan Goel took a catch in the covers to dismiss Stephen Flemming for one.

Suresh Raina hit four boundaries in a 17-ball 26 before he departed at the hands of Chawla in the seventh over to leave the hosts on 64 for three.

Raina’s exit saw Dhoni paired with Badrinath in the middle and the pair combined to take the score beyond 150.

Irfan Pathan's blistering 40 was too late

Badrinath completed his maiden IPL half-century in 37 balls with three sixes before he was dispatched in the 18th over when Yuvraj Singh took the catch at extra cover off VRV Singh.

Dhoni’s third Twenty20 fifty was also completed in 37 balls, and the India wicketkeeper remained unbeaten on 60 at the end of 20 overs alongside Albie Morkel (seven).

Punjab looked more than capable of reaching their victory target of 182 as Marsh made a confident start to the visitors’ reply.

The Australian left-hander looked assured at the crease as he hit four sixes on his way to a half-century in 38 balls.

But Marsh’s innings came to an end in the 13th over when he fell to Balaji after firing into the hands of Palani Amarnath at deep square leg.

By then the Punjab side were already three wickets down as opener Jamie Hopes (14), Goel (one) and Ramnaresh Sarwan (20) fell inside 13 overs, the latter Balaji’s first victim of the day.

Yuvraj Singh (two) and Jayawardene (eight) did little to help the Kings’ cause as they fell in successive overs following Marsh’s dismissal.

Pathan hit a brilliant 40 off just 18 balls as Punjab moved to within 19 runs of victory in the final over, but then Balaji took centre-stage to end any outside hopes the visitors had of claiming the points.

With the third ball of the final over the 26-year-old ended Pathan’s sizzling cameo as Raina took the catch at deep mid-wicket, while with his next ball Balaji claimed the scalp of Chawla (17) when the all-rounder lofted the ball into the hands of Chamara Kapugedera at long off.

And with the match now firmly beyond Punjab, Balaji delighted the home crowd by completing a memorable treble on his next delivery, VRV Singh the unwilling accomplice in a little moment of history as his top-edge found the waiting gloves of a gleeful Dhoni behind the stumps.