PUNE: Kings XI Punjab’s accurate seam bowling was complemented by an all-round fielding display as they raced to an eight-wicket win over Pune Warriors here on Sunday.

It was the first time Punjab began an IPL season with a victory and they took just 12.2 overs to chase the target and hand the home side their second successive loss.

Two run-outs and Gurkeerat Singh’s spectacular catch were the highlights as Kings XI took control of the game very early.

The four-man seam attack hardly gave the Warriors batsmen a chance on a pitch that perhaps misled them into batting first.

Manish Pandey’s hesitant prod started Warriors’ slide and they struggled in the Powerplay overs. T Suman, who replaced the injured Yuvraj Singh, added 20 for the second wicket with Robin Uthappa, but both fell trying to push the run-rate. Suman skied Azhar Mahmood, while Uthappa fell to leg spinner Piyush Chawla.

Mandeep Singh then ran out Marlon Samuels with a terrific throw from the deep midwicket boundary. Chawla later ran out Rahul Sharma with a direct hit from long-off.

Had Mitchell Marsh and Abhishek Nayar not added 25 for the seventh wicket, Warriors would have had to defend fewer than the 99 they got in the end.

Kings XI captain Adam Gilchrist took fourteen runs off the first over of the chase. After Gilchrist’s fall, little known Manan Vohra made a spectacle of his IPL debut. The No 3 batsman smashed four out of five fours in the fourth over bowled by Ashok Dinda. Mandeep and Vohra added 58 for the second wicket with the debutant making 43 off 28 balls.