Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa put together their second century stand in two matches, and unlike the spectacular collapse that followed against Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders did not mess up to win comfortably against Delhi Daredevils.
Gambhir and Uthappa added 106 in 11.5 overs after Knight Riders had allowed Daredevils to recover to 160 for 5, with JP Duminy and Kedar Jadhav looting 54 off the last four overs.
The victory broke a run of four straight defeats for Knight Riders, while Daredevils crashed to their third successive loss at home.
While Knight Riders finally converted a strong performance into a win, Daredevils were unable to defend a decent total yet again. Their previous two losses were by margins of eight and seven wickets.
About the only clear opportunity Daredevils created, barring the usual odd mishit falling in vacant areas, was when Gautam Gambhir feathered a slower one from Siddarth Kaul, but the wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik failed to take the ball as it dipped in front of him.
That was in the sixth over, and by that time, Knight Riders had already gone past 50.
Mohammed Shami did begin with a testing opening over, but Daredevils were never able to create any pressure.
Gambhir and Uthappa began with a four each in the second over off Wayne Parnell. Uthappa took Shami for successive boundaries in the next over, and Knight Riders were always in front for the rest of the chase.
Gambhir is increasingly looking nothing like the batsman who struggled so much to make a single run at the start of the season.
His second scoring shot was an emphatic pulled four off Parnell. His timing was so good at times that a clip off the pad flew for six over deep midwicket off Laxmi Shukla. A forward stride and a lofted four over extra cover off Kaul was more evidence of the old touch returning.
At the other end, Uthappa hit Shahbaz Nadeem for successive boundaries to bring up the hundred of the stand. He went leg-before to Parnell for 47 off 34, Knight Riders needing 55 off 49 from that point.
There were to be no flutters this time, as Gambhir stayed in the middle to push the score past 150 before he was caught behind off Parnell for 69 off 56. Knight Riders reached home in the 19th over, the ten deliveries to spare further driving home the ease of the win.
Daredevils were tied down for 16 overs when they batted, and were 105 for 5 when Duminy and Jadhav came together. The openers weren't able to get going and Kevin Pietersen could not handle the spinners before running himself out. Karthik made a quick 36, but Daredevils still needed a final push if they were to make a competitive total.
Duminy and Jadhav provided that, even taking Sunil Narine for 29 in his last two overs, but it barely tested Gambhir and Uthappa.
Kings XI Punjab 231 for 4 (Maxwell 90, Miller 47, Bailey 40*) beat Chennai Super Kings 187 for 6 (du Plessis 52) by 44 runs
Glenn Maxwell fell within touching distance of a century for the fourth time in the competition, but neither he nor Kings XI Punjab were complaining in the end as the side maintained their winning run each time Maxwell made a massive contribution.
Maxwell and David Miller set off fireworks in Cuttack to lift Kings XI Punjab to the season's highest total - 231 - and though Super Kings managed 187, at no stage were they serious contenders in the chase.
The win took Kings XI to the top of the table.
Such was the carnage by Kings XI that it was easy to forget that only 69 came off the first ten overs.
The next ten produced a whopping 162, an IPL record, of which the last five produced 78. The Miller-Maxwell partnership was worth 135 and after both departed, there was no respite for Super Kings as George Bailey and Mitchell Johnson swung their bats around to add 49 off just 16 balls to end the innings.
Both captains weren't quite sure how the pitch would play out, given that it was Cuttack's first match, but Virender Sehwag's rousing start was an indication that the batsmen would have it easy.
However, at 37 for 2 and with Maxwell having just arrived, Kings XI abandoned their strategy of sending in the relatively passive Wriddhiman Saha and instead promoted Miller. Investing in their power hitters with nearly 15 overs remaining was the way to go.
The blitzkrieg began in the 11th over.
R Ashwin continued with his tried-and-tested plan by bowling round the wicket to the right-hander, but his variations had no effect on Maxwell who smashed two sixes over deep square-leg. A rattled Ashwin strayed too wide either side of the stumps to check Maxwell but he was penalised. Ashwin was in for greater punishment in his following over as Maxwell smashed two fours and two sixes, including one that was reverse swept over third man.
Three overs of spin, including one from Ravindra Jadeja, leaked 52 and Ashwin was carted for 38 off two overs. The boundary barrage started to wear down the fielders as the normally safe Brendon McCullum let one slip at the boundary.
MS Dhoni later said that the inability of the spinners to contain Maxwell and Miller was the turning point. He turned to Ishwar Pandey to limit the damage and he too was spanked, for 18 in an over.
Length balls were duly smashed and attempted yorkers turned into low full tosses that were dispatched. Jadeja tried bowling it flat and quick as a defensive option but Miller put him away, slashing past short third man and launching one over deep cover. Miller and Maxwell brought up the century stand off just 8.5 overs.
Dwayne Smith broke the partnership when Miller inside edged on to his stumps. Prior to that, though, Maxwell had biffed Smith for three sixes, including two audacious reverse pulls over third man. With a century in sight, however, Maxwell didn't slow down and his knock ended on 90 when he slogged a slower ball from Mohit to Jadeja at deep midwicket.
The depth in Kings XI's batting took them past 200 for the second time this season, both against Super Kings, though the previous occasion was a successful chase. Bailey and Johnson took 40 off the last two overs to push the score to 231.
Super Kings failed to put on partnerships even close to the tune of Miller and Maxwell. Their best hopes rested on their successful opening pair of Smith and McCullum, but their association ended in the first over.
Following Jadeja's departure in the 11th over, Super Kings dropped the idea of attaining the target and focused on getting as many as possible for the sake of net run-rate. Du Plessis made an attractive fifty, but his efforts were lost in the din of Maxwell and Miller.
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