Captain Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli led Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a four-wicket win over Gujarat Titans on Saturday, their third successive IPL victory.
Chasing a modest 148 for victory, Du Plessis, who hit 64, and Kohli, who made 42, laid the foundations with a stand of 92 off 35 balls as the target was reached with 6.2 overs to spare at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Du Plessis' departure triggered a collapse as Gujarat hit back with the wickets of Joshua Little and Noor Ahmad to leave their opponents in trouble on 117-6 when Kohli was dismissed.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik, 21, and Swapnil Singh, 15, ensured there was no further drama as they steered the team home with an unbeaten stand of 35.
The bowlers set up the victory after pace spearhead Mohammed Siraj removed the openers early and Gujarat lost wickets regularly to be bowled out for 147 in 19.3 overs.
It was Bengaluru's fourth win and third on the bounce in 11 matches as they moved from the bottom of the table to seventh and kept their slim play-off hopes alive.
Gujarat's hopes are also hanging by a thread as they slumped to a seventh defeat in 11 matches.
Kohli, who regained the top batting spot with 542 runs, got off to a roaring start when he hit Mohit Sharma for two sixes in the first over of the chase and Du Plessis soon joined in to bring up his fifty off 18 balls.
The South Africa veteran hit 10 fours and three sixes in his 23-ball blitz before he was dismissed by Ireland left-arm quick Little.
Little took two more wickets, including Glenn Maxwell for four. Bengaluru were reduced to 107-4.
Little sent back Cameron Green and Noor's left-arm wrist spin silenced the home crowd when he had Kohli caught behind, but the hosts had the last laugh when Singh hit the winning six.
Earlier, Gujarat were bowled out for 19 in six overs before big-hitting Shahrukh Khan, who top-scored with 37, shared a 61-run stand with David Miller, who made 30 off 20 balls.
Left-hander Rahul Tewatia hit a 21-ball 35 and put on another key stand with Rashid Khan to add some respectability to the total.