Cameron White produced a robust knock of 78 from 46 balls as Deccan Chargers defeated Pune Warriors by 18 runs to record their maiden win in the Indian Premier League on Thursday.

The Australian allrounder helped Deccan score a challenging 4-177 after which Pune were restricted to 7-159 at Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium.

White, sent in at No.3 in a bid to inflate the total after a fluent opening partnership of 39 between left-handers Parthiv Patel (24) and Shikhar Dhawan (16), struck five sixes and six fours.

White was particularly severe on the spinners, once hitting legspinner Rahul Sharma for consecutive sixes over the cover boundary and straight down the ground. He was finally out in the 18th over, caught at the cover boundary off spinner Marlon Samuels.

White added 75 for the fourth wicket with South African JP Duminy, who chipped in with a 24-ball 26.

“It’s a good feeling to get a win as we’ve been under pressure as a team,” White said. “Hopefully it’s the start of a few wins in a row. I had a few cramps in the calves during the innings but I’m OK now.”

Sourav Ganguly-led Pune failed to get runs at a fast pace even as Robin Uthappa held together the mid-innings with a 27-ball 29.

Another Australian, Steven Smith, gave a glimmer of hope with a quickfire 13-ball 26 but Pune could not keep up with the increasing asking rate.

Pune have four wins and five losses while Deccan remain at the bottom after seven games with one win, five losses and an abandoned game.