Kohli, Gayle thrill in crushing win

The match in a tweet: Kings crushed! Gayle fires early before Kohli scores FOURTH century of the IPL as Bangalore march on

The opening stand: After several false starts during this IPL campaign, Chris Gayle finally returned to his devastating best, slamming eight sixes and four fours in a breathtaking innings of 73 from 32 balls. And if Gayle's fireworks weren't enough for the hapless Kings XI, his opening partner Virat Kohli came along for the ride - and how. In a match reduced to 15 overs a side due to rain, the duo combined for an extraordinary opening stand of 147 in less than 11 overs at a run rate of 13.36 - the second-highest in a century stand for first wicket in the IPL - hitting a boundary every 2.75 balls they faced. This was T20 batting at its brutal best and the undermanned Kings XI simply had no answers.

The hero: You'd go a long way to ever find a batsman in better form than Kohli is right now. The Indian star was unbeaten on 69 when Gayle departed with four overs remaining but there would be no respite for the visitors' bowlers. After AB de Villiers surprisingly followed Gayle back to the pavilion without scoring, Kohli calmly bludgeoned and caressed his way to his fourth century from his past nine innings, reaching the milestone from just 47 balls. In doing so, Kohli became the first man to score more than three centuries in a single T20 tournament and moved just one away from Gayle's all-time IPL record of five three-figure scores. And his milestone wasn't quite the end as he finished his innings with 4, 6, 4 in consecutive deliveries before perishing for 113 from just 50 balls - with 96 runs coming in boundaries (12 fours and eight sixes) - in another masterful display from a man at the top of his game.

The dance: What better way to celebrate a milestone than with a dance? Chris Gayle's half-century - his first in more than two months - saw the Jamaican giant and Kohli perform a rendition of the 'Champion' dance, which became the signature move for the West Indies during their successful World T20 campaign. It really was party time in Bangalore.

The miss: You simply can't afford to give Virat Kohli a second chance when he's in this kind of form, but that's exactly what Axar Patel did in the fourth over of Bangalore's innings. Some indecision between the wickets saw Kohli stranded mid-pitch as the ball trickled to Patel at backward point, but the left-armer couldn't find the stumps after a clean gather and throw. Patel sunk to his knees with his hands on his head as Kohli - who was on 10 at the time - composed himself. It was a moment that could well have decided the match.

The stat: A lot has and will be said about Kohli's incredible patch of form, but nothing underlines his dominance quite like the sheer numbers from his past two months. In his past 18 innings that covers the World T20 and the IPL, Kohli has tallied 1138 runs at 94.83 with a strike rate of 152.95, including four hundreds, eight half-centuries, 101 fours and 41 sixes.

The milestone: Kohli's performance tonight took him to 4002 career runs in the IPL, making him the first man to break through that barrier. Before the start of the season, Kohli was fourth on the list of the all-time leading run-scorers in the IPL but he's now a mere 17 ahead of Suresh Raina in second place. He also now has 2042 runs at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, the first man to score 2000 runs at a single venue in T20s.

The drought breaker: Chris Gayle showed signs of a revival with an innings of 49 against Kolkata on the weekend and he returned to full 'Universe Boss' mode on Wednesday night. His quickfire 73 was his first score of 50 or more since his match-winning century against England in the opening match of the World T20, which was 10 innings ago.

The Aussie: Just like last match, Shane Watson had precious little to do as the RCB's top order fired. The allrounder faced just two balls in the final over before he claimed 2-7 in the run chase as the Kings XI fell 82 runs short.

The wash-up: Another crushing win has propelled Royal Challengers Bangalore from fifth up to second on the IPL ladder, just two points behind leaders Sunrisers Hyderabad and one of four teams on 14 points. Their final group game will come against Delhi on Sunday, while Kings XI take on Pune on Saturday before their disappointing campaign comes to an end.