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Royal Challengers Bangalore rallied to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad during Friday's Indian Premier League action, keeping their play-off hopes alive in the process. Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle put on a tremendous performance with the bat to ensure the team will have a chance to qualify for the play-offs when they take on Delhi Daredevils in their final match.

Hyderabad played a strong innings during the rain-shortened match, with David Warner and Moises Henriques leading the side to a respectable total. But there was no slowing down Gayle, who quickly put Bangalore ahead of the required run rate and never looked back.

Read on for the updated standings, the upcoming schedule, a live stream guide and a full recap of Friday's match.   

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Schedule courtesy of ESPNcricinfo. All matches live streamed on ESPN Cricket or Sky Go. 

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Royal Challengers Bangalore (83/4) defeat Sunrisers Hyderabad (135/3) by four wickets (with one ball remaining)

Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle combined to give Royal Challengers Bangalore the push they needed in a rain-shortened win over Sunrisers Hyderabad, keeping the team in play-off contention with a four-wicket win.

Both sides' bowlers were shelled all night long, and not surprisingly, it was Kohli who won his team the match with three consecutive boundaries.

Friday's massive clash was delayed by several hours because of heavy rains, and for a brief moment, it even looked as if Bangalore and Hyderabad wouldn't get the chance to play cricket at all. ESPN Cricinfo's Freddie Wilde ran over the impact the match would have on the race to the play-offs but warned his followers the rain looked pretty bad:

It is pouring with rain in Hyderabad. #IPL #SRHvRCB #SRH #RCB

— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) May 15, 2015

The skies eventually cleared, and the decision was made to have both teams play 11 overs, with Sunrisers batting first. Shikhar Dhawan was caught early, but David Warner and Henriques quickly formed a strong partnership that carried Hyderabad through the bulk of the innings.

SUNRISERS HYDERABAD INNINGS 

BATSMEN			RUNS	BALLS	SR	4S	6S
	David Warner	NOT OUT	52	32	162.50	5	1
	Shikhar Dhawan	c Ashok Dinda b David Wiese	8	7	114.28	1	0
	Moises Henriques	c Dinesh Karthik b David Wiese	57	22	259.09	5	4
	Eoin Morgan	c Mandeep Singh b Mitchell Starc	11	7	157.14	0	1
EXTRAS		(nb 2, w 3, lb 2)	7
TOTAL		(3 wickets; 11 overs)	135

BOWLER		O	R	W	ECON	DOTS
	Mitchell Starc	3	26	1	8.66	4
	Harshal Patel	2	30	0	15.00	3
	David Wiese	2	20	2	10.00	3
	Ashok Dinda	2	23	0	11.50	2
	Yuzvendra Chahal	2	34	0	17.00	1

Both scored half centuries, and the partnership lasted until the 10th over, when Henriques was caught after contributing 57 runs from just 22 deliveries. Sony SIX was impressed with the duo:

David Warner and Moises Henriques' blistering partnership deserves a Shayari. Try one with the hashtag #ShayaroftheMatch and Win prizes!!

— Sony SIX (@SonySIX) May 15, 2015

The heavy rains returned during the final over, and Kohli got involved in a shouting match with the umpire over the state of the pitch. Hyderabad had managed to score 135 in 11 overs, a great total that gave the squad a fantastic chance of qualifying for the play-offs.

Dinesh Karthik also had a go at the umpire and had to be taken away as Bangalore voiced their frustrations. The side missed several routine catchers that would have broken up the partnership of Henriques and Warner, all but gifting Sunrisers the solid total.

After a lengthy delay, Bangalore were finally sent out to bat, needing 81 from six overs as the match was again reduced. Dale Steyn had a nightmare first over, giving up 17 runs to Gayle and Kohli, who didn't hold back one bit.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE INNINGS

BATSMEN			RUNS	BALLS	SR	4S	6S
	Chris Gayle	c Shikhar Dhawan b Moises Henriques	35	10	350.00	4	3
	Virat Kohli	NOT OUT	44	19	231.57	3	3
	AB de Villiers	c Dale Steyn b Moises Henriques	0	1	0.00	0	0
	Mandeep Singh	c Eoin Morgan b Praveen Kumar	1	3	33.33	0	0
	Dinesh Karthik	run out (Bhuvneshwar Kumar)	2	2	100.00	0	0
	Sarfaraz Khan	NOT OUT	0	0	0.00	0	0
EXTRAS		(w 1)	1
TOTAL		(4 wickets; 5.5 overs)	83

BOWLER		O	R	W	ECON	DOTS
	Dale Steyn	1	17	0	17.00	1
	Bhuvneshwar Kumar	1.5	39	0	21.27	2
	Moises Henriques	1	3	2	3.00	4
	Karn Sharma	1	14	0	14.00	0
	Praveen Kumar	1	10	1	10.00	2

Gayle was determined to match Henriques' run rate it seemed, scoring an incredible 35 runs from just 10 balls to give Royal Challengers a shot at chasing down the target. Interestingly enough, it was Henriques who grabbed his wicket, and he managed to follow that up by bouncing AB de Villiers for a golden duck.

Heading into the final over, Bangalore needed 13 more runs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar went head-to-head with Kohli, and the experienced Indian batsman did what he always does, scoring two fours before finishing things off with a fantastic six. Warner had a chance to catch it but touched the rope, setting off mad celebrations from the Royal Challengers. 

Warner took full responsibility for the fielding error, as he told ESPN Cricinfo:

Poor fielding on myself. Thought I had it, but didn't look behind me. Two overs of powerplay and two world class players, the big man came out flying. We played a fantastic innings with the bat, but that's cricket. It's a misfortune that it rains, we got a great total but we were unable to defend it.

As Wilde shared, the race for the play-offs is starting to take on ridiculous proportions heading into the final days of the group stage:

The #IPL table is ridiculous. Two points separate the top six teams. #SRHvRCB #SRH #RCB

— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) May 15, 2015

To say this year's race for the play-offs is exciting would be an understatement. The difference between first-placed Chennai Super Kings and sixth-placed Rajasthan Royals is an incredible two points, and as things stand, just about anything could happen during the final matchdays.

Bangalore play Delhi Daredevils next and control their own destiny, while Hyderabad will have to beat Mumbai Indians to qualify for the play-offs.