Mohali, May 3: Kings XI Punjab held off a spirited fightback by the Kolkata Knight Riders and marched to their fourth straight victory. The home side won by nine runs at the PCA Stadium here on Saturday.

Chasing 179, the Riders were reeling at 52/5 mid-way through their innings before a 104-run partnership between Aussie David Hussey (71) and Prasanta Saha (59 not out) got them within touching distance. But even the big-hitting of Hussey and Saha — who struck four sixers apiece — was not enough to save the Riders from succumbing to their fourth loss in a row.

The contest headed for a thrilling finish with the Riders requiring 15 runs in the last three deliveries. But Irfan Pathan’s meticulous bowling was simply unplayable.

The Knight Riders were earlier reduced to 29/4 by the fifth over, the wickets including that of skipper Sourav Ganguly (5) who spooned a S. Sreesanth bouncer to Pathan at third man. Other than Hussey, no other batsmen seemed to have the patience to hold on to their wicket in the chase.

Earlier, a 21-run cameo by Piyush Chawla and notable contributions from opener Shaun Marsh, Kumar Sangakkara and Pathan helped Kings XI post 178/6.

Chawla hit three fours and a six off Ishant Sharma in the final over to help his side reach the eventual total.

The home team did not have a good start with openers James Hopes and Shaun Marsh involved in a 28-run partnership.

Hopes, who was unable to play the last two matches due to stiffness in shoulder, was the first to go hitting four boundaries in his 18-run stint. He was done in by first change bowler Ashok Dinda while trying to hit over mid-wicket.

Ganguly’s decision to take Ajit Agarkar out of the attack after he bowled an expensive first over proved right, with Dinda making the first breakthrough.

Kumar Sangakkara, who came in after Hopes, was keen to get a move on but had to retire as he suffered from cramps.

Yuvraj then pitched in with some blistering strokes against Pakistan’s Mohammed Hafeez, hitting the all-rounder over the mid-wicket fence and then blasting another two boundaries off the next two balls but he too perished soon.

By this time, the Kings XI were 85/2 in 10 overs. The run-making momentum slowed after Yuvraj’s dismissal and Marsh too made a surprise exit, stumped off new bowler Hussey. Marsh’s 40 included five fours and a six.

Late in the innings, Pathan and Sangakkara tried to salvage the innings with some clinical hits to the fence but a fiery yorker off Gul felled Sangakkara (28).

Gul shone for Kolkata with the wickets of Jayawardene and Sangakkara while Dinda, Hussey and Hafeez had one each.