BANGALORE, May 6: Kings XI Punjab cruised to their fifth successive victory in the Indian Premier League when they defeated hosts Bangalore Royal Challengers by six wickets at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday (partly reported in Tuesday’s edition).

After Rahul Dravid (66) played the lone hand to take Royal Challengers to a meager 126, Kings XI Punjab rammed home their advantage with eight balls to spare.

Royal Challengers, defending the modest total, started off well with Zaheer Khan scalping James Hopes in the second over for five. But Ramnaresh Sarwan, making a comeback along with Shaun Marsh batted the home side almost out of the game with a 54-run stand. Sarwan slammed four fours and one six in his 31 before Praveen Kumar got him caught behind.

And when skipper Yuvraj Singh fell for one, Royal Challengers’ hopes came to life again but Marsh continued his prolific form to come up with another impressive show.

Marsh, son of former Australian opener Geoff, hit four boundaries and one six in his 34-ball 39 before he was cleaned up by Zaheer in the 15th over. But it proved a little too late in the day for Royal Challengers as Mahela Jayawardene (17 not out) and Irfan Pathan (17 not out) scored the required runs without much trouble.

After Royal Challengers were put in to bat on a pitch that assisted seamers, the home team got off to a disastrous start. Shanthakumaran Sreesanth’s early strikes and an unfortunate run out reduced them to 15-3 in the fourth over.

With three of his top four batsmen falling for no score, Dravid stemmed the rot as he along with the Virat Kohli strung a 54-run stand. And after Kohli fell in the 13th over, Piyush Chawla removed Misbah-ul-Haq (eight) and Praveen Kumar (zero) in a space of two deliveries and then cleaned up Zaheer in his next over as Dravid watched his team crumble from the other end.

Royal Challengers now after five losses are at the bottom of the points table with only Hyderabad’s Deccan Chargers, who have played one less game, below them. On the other hand, Kings XI Punjab after a poor start in the competition are now at the top of the table along with Rajasthan Royals.

Summarised scores:

BANGALORE ROYAL CHALLENGERS 126 in 19.2 overs (Rahul Dravid 66, Virat Kohli 34; Piyush Chawla 3-25, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth 2-16); KINGS XI PUNJAB 127-4 in 18.2 overs (Shaun Marsh 39, Ramnaresh Sarwan 31; Praveen Kumar 2-22, Zaheer Khan 2-29).—Agencies