Dhawan slammed 71 off 50 balls with the help of four boundaries and three sixes, while White remained unbeaten on a quickfire 67 that came off 41. He hit eight fours and a six.
Dan Christian blazed his way to 24 off 10 balls to give the impetus in the last couple of overs.
Opting to bat after the coin landed in skipper Kumar Sangakkara's favour, the Chargers were left to rely on Dhawan and White.
The two joined hands and added 96 runs for the third wicket after the visitors lost Parthiv Patel and Sangakkara in quick succession.
Coming into the match with more than 400 runs under his belt in this IPL, Dhawan continued his good run of form with the bat and looked in total command in the middle.
Playing shots all round the ground, Dhawan got to his 50 off just 36 balls, his fifth in this edition of the tournament, with a single down the ground off Piyush Chawla.
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White, too, was in the mood as he milked the Punjab bowlers with consummate ease.
With both Dhawan and White going strong, the 100 was up for the Chargers by the 12th over.
And then came the shot of the innings as Dhawan scooped Awana for a six over fine-leg, much to the Chargers' delight.
To check the flow of runs, Punjab skipper David Hussey brought back pacer Ryan Harris, but White flicked him fine enough that fetched him another boundary.