Sunil Narine produced that magical feat that bowlers dream of - the hat-trick -- for the first time in IPL 2013, as a see-saw battle went right down to the wire, with Kings XI Punjab pulling off a thrilling four-run win over the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Kings XI made good use of their home conditions, as they picked themselves up from losing three wickets in a row to Narine, with Manpreet Singh Gony's pyrotechnics in the final overs taking his side to 157 for nine in their 20 overs.
KKR looked well on course to overhauling the target with Gautam Gambhir (60) and Eoin Morgan (47) at the crease in Mohali, before a middle-order collapse, triggered by some good bowling from Kings XI, sent KKR crashing to 153 for nine.
Kings XI will be happy to pick up their second win of the tournament after two straight defeats, as Kolkata's woes away from home continued.
The home side got off the perfect start, dismissing Manvinder Bisla first ball. Praveen Kumar found the outside edge of the opener, with Azhar Mahmood spilling the catch at first slip, only for wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist to grab the rebound.
Jacques Kallis, the man for a crisis, could not produce another one of those calm and collected innings, as a full-blooded cover drive from him only found Mandeep Singh, with Mahmood celebrating a big wicket.
Gautam Gambhir and Eoin Morgan though began rebuilding the innings in splendid style, with the former taking on the aggressor's role.
Gambhir looked really good out in the middle, as runs kept flowing from his blade, with Morgan more than happy to play second fiddle and get a proper feel of the pitch.
The KKR skipper went about his merry way, caressing as well as smashing nine boundaries in his 39-ball 60. However, once Gambhir got out - caught behind by Gilchrist off Gony - KKR lost their way.
Morgan (47, 38b, 6x4), surprisingly, could not push his side towards the total, getting a leading edge for David Hussey to snaffle with Mahmood (three for 21) taking his second wicket.
Manoj Tiwary, usually quite dependable, looked completely out of sorts, and his seven-ball one-run stay ended soon as Awana (two for 39) hit the top of the stumps with great effect.
Debabrata Das, playing his first match, could not hang around with Yusuf Pathan either as KKR stared at a target of 34 from 16 balls, with just four wickets in hand.
Six runs were taken off the last four deliveries of the 18th over, which meant KKR needed 30 off the last two.
Nineteen runs came in the penultimate over of Awana, as Rajat Bhatia (16 in 6) smoked the Kings XI fast bowler for two sixes, before playing on in the final ball.
Three runs came from the first ball of Praveen Kumar's final over, thanks to a wide and a couple, before Pathan (13 in 16) was walking back to the pavilion in disbelief, after David Hussey pulled off a brilliant catch under extreme pressure at deep midwicket.
KKR needed eight off four, and after only a couple of singles could be managed, Suchitra Senanayake was run out in the penultimate ball, leaving Narine needing a six to win the game.
Kumar bowled a wide off what was supposed to be the last delivery, leaving KKR still needing a maximum for victory. Praveen, though, held his nerve, as Kings XI picked up a brilliant win.
Earlier, KKR went in with a spin, or it should be said, lack of pace-filled attack, with Jacques Kallis acting as their only real bowler with any kind of pace.
Sunil Narine and Sachitra Senanayake were the weird spin twins, that KKR were banking on to give them a leg-up against Kings XI.
L Balaji and Kallis opened the bowling for KKR in the first couple of overs, before Senanayake's introduction in the fourth led to the demise of Adam Glichrist (7).
The Kings XI captain failed to pickup a carom ball from Senanayake, as the ball slammed into Gilchrist's pads, with the umpire without hesitation, raising his finger.
Mandeep Singh (30) and No. 3 Manan Vohra (17) came together and put on a decent partnership of 37 to take Kings XI to a respectable 61 for two in just over eight overs. The duo lost their wickets, however, in the space of nine runs as KKR started to wrest back control.
King XI's two David's - Hussey and Miller - looked to repair the damage, taking the score from 70 for three in 10.1 overs to 99 in 14.3, before Narine claimed IPL 2013's first hat-trick.
Hussey (12 in 15), trying to cut a ball that bounced, could only manage an outside edge, with Bisla just about managing to hold on. Azhar Mahmood, one of Kings XI's most experienced players, committed the cardinal sin, playing across the line first up, which led to a dolly for Narine off another edge.
KKR captain Gautam Gambhir brought in men close as Narine looked to complete the hat-trick, and the fielders around the bat were not really needed as Gurkeerat Singh played around the line, seeing his off-stump uprooted.
Senanayake soon sent Miller packing with another carom ball, before Manpreet Singh Gony (42, 18b, 4x3, 3x6) began his slugfest in the 18th and 19th overs, which yielded 38 runs, 23 of those from Narine's final over of the innings, with the West Indian finishing with figures of 4-0-33-3.
Kallis (three for 24) typically brought things back in the final over, picking up two wickets as Kings XI finished on 157 for nine.
