Royal Challengers Bangalore rode on yet another century partnership between Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers to thrash the Kolkata Knight Riders by nine wickets at the Eden Gardens on Monday. Chasing 184 to win, the swashbuckling pair wrapped the match up with eight balls to spare and took Bangalore to fifth in the table with 12 points in as many games. RCB will have to win both their remaining matches to secure a spot in the playoffs. KKR maintained their position at second in the table despite the loss. They now have 14 points in 12 matches.

Kohli opted to bowl after winning the match on a pitch that had a bit of dampness. KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir (51 off 34 balls), who hit his fifth half-century of the season and a record 31st overall, and Manish Pandey (50 off 35 balls) got the team to a good start, before a mini collapse after the 10th over threatened to derail their innings. From 90/1, Kolkata slipped to 125/5 within the space of just 29 balls, before a late partnership between Andre Russell (39 not out off 19 balls) and Shakib al Hasan (18 not out off 11 balls) got them to a very competitive 183/5.

Kohli then brushed off any worries Bangalore fans would have had of an injury when he appeared to have split the webbing of his hand while fielding by smashing yet another half-century. The 27-year-old remained unbeaten on 75 made off 51 balls and combined with de Villiers (59 not out off 31 balls) for a 115-run partnership that took the game away from the hosts. This was their fifth century partnership of the season. The two have now scored more than 800 runs together this season, the highest ever by a pair in the tournament's history. Earlier, Chris Gayle finally struck some form, hitting 49 off 31 balls.