CENTURION: THIS was cricket’s version of a Wild West gunfight, and in the end, Matthew Hayden and Mahendra Dhoni outgunned Yuvraj Singh and Mahela Jayawardene to lead Chennai Super Kings to a 12-run victory over Kings XI Punjab at Centurion last night.

Hayden (89 from 58 balls) and skipper Dhoni (56 not out from 27) knocked up 100 runs from only 46 deliveries to steer Chennai to 185/3 in their innings, shortened to 18 overs because of rain.

Simon Katich got Punjab off to a good start, smashing 50 from 25 balls, and at one stage it seemed Yuvraj (58 not out from 36 balls) and Jayawardene (44 not from 25), might pull off this chase, but they were pegged back by spinner Suresh Raina, who bowled two tight overs at the death, conceding just eight runs.

Earlier, Rajasthan Royals trounced Bangalore Royal Challengers by seven wickets, with five overs remaining, taking command early as their bowlers frustrated the opposition batsmen up front.

Amit Singh bagged 4/19 in his four overs, and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja took 3/15 to help bowl out Bangalore for 105. Jadeja’s first victim was Robin Uthapa, the Royal Challengers’ top scorer with 17 runs from 10 balls.

Praveen Kumar was the only Bangalore batsman to score better than a run-a-ball, but his seven from four deliveries was never going to be a game-breaker.

Naman Ojha cracked a brisk 52 from 38 deliveries to steer the defending champions home. He hit three sixes — the same as Bangalore’s entire batting line-up.