Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers extended their fine form as Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Kings XI Punjab by five wickets in the Indian Premier League on Friday.
Gayle struck 87 off 56 balls with four sixes and eight fours while De Villiers made 52 off 39 balls with eight fours as Bangalore scored 5-166 in 19.3 overs after having restricted Punjab to 6-163.
Gayle scored 81 and De Villiers made an unbeaten 33 against Pune Warriors in Bangalore’s game on Tuesday and the pair came to the team’s rescue once again with a decisive 131-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Pace bowler Parvinder Awana had earlier claimed three wickets to reduce Bangalore to 3-25 by the sixth over. He finished with 4-34.
Punjab stand-in captain David Hussey produced a solid 41 off 34 balls and former Pakistan player Azhar Mahmood came up with 33 not out off 14 balls.
Hussey, who led the side because regular captain Adam Gilchrist had a hamstring problem, held together the middle order and hit three fours before he was bowled by seamer Harshal Patel.
Mahmood, who played his first game for Punjab after struggling with visa problems, smashed two sixes and three fours and was particularly severe on India pace bowler Vinay Kumar, hitting him for 18 runs off six balls.
Hussey and Mahmood made up for a sluggish start after pace bowlers Zaheer Khan and Andrew McDonald took two wickets each to restrict Punjab to 4-94 in the first 14 overs.
Bangalore have won three out of six games, while Punjab remain on two wins from six games.
Delhi Daredevils top the table with four wins from five games.