IPL 4: Match No.35, RCB vs PW, Gayle on song as Bangalore powers third win in a row

20 overs Royal Challengers Bangalore 181 for 4 (Kohli 67, Gayle 49, Thomas 2-23, Rahul 2-27) win by 26 runs v Pune Warriors 155/5 (20.0/20 ov)

Pune Warriors lost their fourth wicket when Zaheer Khan had Yuvraj Singh caught by Syed Mohammad at mid-wicket in their IPL match at M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Friday.

Yuvraj hit 3 sixes and 2 fours in his 23-ball 41 before falling to Zaheer.

Bangalore captain Daniel Vettori had Manish Pandey caught by Saurabh Tiwary at long-off to reduce Pune to 101/3 in 14 overs.

Pandey struggled throughout his knock scoring 19 runs off 23 balls.

Syed Mohammad had Jesse Ryder caught by Mohammad Kaif at deep mid-wicket as Pune Warriors lost their second wicket.

Ryder hit 2 sixes and 4 fours in his 34-ball 51 before falling to Syed.

Sreenath Aravind gave Royal Challengers the first breakthrugh when he had Tim Paine caught by Daniel Vettori at short fine-leg.

Earlier, Virat Kohli's 42-ball 67 and Chris Gayle's 26-ball 49 powered Royal Challengers Bangalore to 181/5.

Saurabh Tiwary hit a six and a four in his 8-ball 14 before falling to Jerome Taylor, who conceded 44 runs off his 4 overs.

Kohli, who reached his fifty off 36 balls, hit 4 sixes and 4 fours in his superb knock before he was caught by Harpreet Singh off Thomas.

Bangalore lost their third wicket when Alfonso Thomas had AB de Villiers caught by Rahul Sharma at long-on. de Villiers hit a six and a four in his 20-ball 26 and added 66 runs with Kohli before falling to Thomas.

Rahul Sharma dismissed Tillakaratne Dilshan and Chris Gayle in his successive overs to cut short their onslaught.

Gayle and Dilshan gave Bangalore a superb start bringing up the team's 50 in the sixth over.

Kamran Khan was taken apart by Gayle as the left-arm pacer conceded 37 runs off his 2 overs, an assault that included 4 sixes and 3 fours.

Sharma gave Pune the first breakthrough when he clean bowled Dilshan who hit 2 fours in his 19-ball 15.

In his next over, Sharma trapped Gayle plumb in front of the wicket to deny the big-hitting West Indian a half-century.

Gayle's 26-ball 49 was studded with 4 sixes and 4 fours.

Earlier, Pune captain Yuvraj Singh won the toss and chose to bowl.

Mohammad Kaif gets his first match in IPL 4 as Cheteshwar Pujara is not well.