IPL 4: Bangalore vs Kolkata

Royal Challengers Bangalore won the toss and chose to bowl against the Kolkata Knight Riders in a match which could have taken either team to the top of the table. (AFP Photo)

The decision at the toss paid off as Zaheer Khan dismissed Eoin Morgan cheaply in a spell of play which the seamers dominated. (AFP Photo)

Charl Langeveldt soon picked up Jacques Kallis as the Royal Challengers tightened their grip over the Kolkata Knight Riders. (AFP Photo)

Gambhir perished soon as well as knocked one from Sreenath Aravind. Manoj Tiwary and Yusuf Pathan came in with recovery on their mind. (AFP Photo)

But rain played spoilsport as it stopped the match for several hours. (AFP Photo)

Play resumed but the match had to be reduced to 13 overs a side which meant that the Kolkata Knight Riders had only two more overs to play. (AFP Photo)

Some good hitting at the end set up a target of 90 for the Bangalore Royal Challengers which had to be revised to 102 considering the impact of rain on the Kolkata innings. (AFP Photo)

The Bangalore contingent would have been pretty happy with the proceedings, especially because a shorter game meant that Chris Gayle's early surge could pave the way for an easy victory. (AFP Photo)

For Chris Gayle though, rain or no rain, he had one plan in mind as always; to hit the ball as hard as possible. He survived a couple of top edges to ultimately end with a score of 38 off just 12 balls. (AFP Photo)

Gayle's innings left Shah Rukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders clueless and paved an easy path for the batsmen to come. (AFP Photo)

Although wickets kept tumbling right till the end, Royal Challengers Bangalore were never in a spot of bother and kept closing in on the target. (AFP Photo)

Royal challengers Bangalore won with 3 balls to spare. A win that takes them to the top of the table and one certainly that makes them the hot contenders for a place in the top-2 playoff. (AFP Photo)