Kings XI Punjab’s Yuvraj Singh (right) celebrates his hattrick with Kumar Sangakkara on Sunday. It was Yuvraj’s second hattrick of the tournament. (AP)

Johannesburg: Yuvraj Singh’s sensational second hattrick of the tournament coupled with Irfan Pathan’s twin blow in the last over handed the Kings XI Punjab a sensational one-run win against the Deccan Chargers. With this victory the Punjab outfit keep their semi-final hopes alive in Indian Premier League’s edition No.2.

Put into bat, Kings XI scored a modest 134 for seven, built largely around Kumar Sangakkara’s 43-ball 56, and then rode Yuvraj’s hattrick to restrict the Chargers to 133 for eight.

The Chargers, though, looked to have run away with the match with Rohit Sharma hitting a quickfire 26-ball 42 and his side needing just four runs from five balls before he was out in the third ball of the last over. RP Singh and Jaskaran Singh could score just two runs as the Kings XI clinched a one-run victory.

Earlier, Yuvraj came to his team’s rescue when the Chargers were cruising towards a modest target of 135 on 65 for two after 10 overs.

Opener Herchelle Gibbs departed in the last delivery of the first over off Yuvraj after the strategy break as the South African’s powerful cut found Piyush Chawla who pouched a sharp catch at backward point.

Yuvraj sizzled again in his next over sending dangerous looking Andrew Symonds (25 off 25) packing as wicketkeeper Sangakkara first fumbled before pulling off a brilliant stumping.

Yuvraj’s very next delivery disturbed Venugopal Rao’s (0) stumps as the left-arm spinner completed his second hattrick in the Twenty20 event, with the first one coming against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Earlier, the Kings XI got off to a disastrous start losing three early wickets in Sunny Sohal (9), Luke Pomerbsach (1) and Simon Katich (11) within the first five overs. Yuvraj (20 off 18) then paired up with Sangakkara (56 off 43) to mark a short recovery before Rao clean bowled the Kings XI captain.

The Kings XI batsmen found it hard to score against a disciplined Chargers attack, which maintained a stifling line and length.

For the Chargers, left-arm pacer RP was the pick of the bowlers, picking up three wickets for 26 runs, including that of Sangakkara. (PTI)