Western Australian Shaun Marsh crashed 84 not out off 62 balls in his Indian Premier League debut overnight, powering Punjab to a seven-wicket thrashing of the Deccan Chargers.
Marsh and Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene (45 not out) put on an 81-run unbeaten stand as the Kings XI ran down the 165-run victory target with ease in Hyderabad.
Punjab won the toss and put into bat a Deccan side missing Andrew Symonds, who has returned to Australia to prepare for international duties.
The Chargers lost Adam Gilchrist for 6 early on but VVS Laxman took up the slack, compiling 48 off 34 balls.
Rothi Sharma top-scored with 76, lifting Deccan to a respectable 8 for 164 from 20 overs.
Symonds was replaced in the side by South African Herschelle Gibbs, who made just 7 on his IPL debut.
Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla took 3 for 28 from four overs for the Kings XI.
Marsh was brought into the side as a replacement for previous match-winner and fellow Australian Simon Katich and he did not disappoint, compiling a fluid innings as Punjab finished on 3 for 167 in the 19th over.
In the evening's other game, Shane Warne's Rajasthan Royals made it four wins on the trot, hammering a Kolkata Knight Riders minus Ricky Ponting and Brendon McCullum by 45 runs in Jaipur.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, the Royals made 7 for 196 with debutant Swapnil Asnodkar making 60 and Yusuf Pathan 55.
Shane Watson failed with a golden duck while Warne was run out for 7.
Umar Gul took 3 for 31 for the Knight Riders.
Captain Sourav Ganguly (51) and Australian David Hussey (42) were the only Kolkata batsmen to fire as they were bowled out for 151 in the last over.
Victorian Brad Hodge made only 1.
Watson took 2 for 22 for the Royals.
