Brett Lee hailed Punjab's "do-or-die" victory over Deccan Chargers which boosted his team's chances of making it to semi-finals.

But, on his bow in this year's IPL, he returned respectable figures of one for 24, and then hit the winning runs with one ball remaining as Kings claimed victory by three wickets.

"It was definitely do or die for us," Lee told Setanta Sports. "We knew that we had to perform at our best and the guys dug deep. It shows what kind of spirit the Kings have."

"I was happy with the way I bowled" 

Chasing 169 at De Beers Diamond Oval after winning the toss and fielding, Punjab raced to 40 off the first four overs before Rohit Sharma claimed the scalps of openers Sunny Sohal (30 off 17) and Simon Katich (nine) in his first over.

Kumar Sangakkara (25) flicked onto his own stumps before dangerman and skipper Yuvraj Singh (18) skied to counterpart Adam Gilchrist as Kings XI reached 86 for four after 10 overs.

Irfan Pathan (10) and Mahela Jayawardene added 30 before the former fell, and then Wilkin Mota (three) and, crucially, Jayawardene (43 from 28 balls) were run out.

That left Punjab needing 20 from 14 balls and then eight from the final over, and Lee (14no) hit the winning runs from the penultimate ball of the innings to take his team to 169 for seven.

Despite his already promising form, Lee insists he has some way to go before hitting top gear.

"It's starting to feel okay but it's going to take a few games to get back to where I want to be," he said.

"I was happy with the way I bowled today and the guys were excellent."

Lee added: "It's been a big 17 weeks and hopefully the hard work's starting to pay off now."

The Chargers would have fancied defending their total of 168 for five.

Lee took one wicket

Gilchrist departed for 20 and opening partner Herschelle Gibbs followed for 13 in the seventh over when he edged spinner Piyush Chawla to a diving Jayawardene, leaving the score on 54 for two.

Tirumalsetti Suman had punished the Kings XI bowlers but he too departed for a 17-ball 27 in the 10th when he cracked Mota to Jayawardene on the long-leg boundary.

Sharma (nine) edged Lee behind before Andrew Symonds (60 not out off 36 balls) and Venugopal Rao (32) set about re-establishing the Chargers' dominance with a fifth-wicket stand of 95.

It ended with a last-ball run-out for the latter.

Deccan stay fourth despite today's defeat, although Kings are only behind them on net run rate.