JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) – The Punjab Kings XI and the  Bangalore Royal Challengers joined two other teams at the top of  the Indian Premier League standings after winning their  respective games yesterday.

Jacques Kallis and Robin Uthappa scored unbeaten  half-centuries as Bangalore cruised to a nine-wicket victory  with 11 balls to spare over the Mumbai Indians at the Wanderers  in Johannesburg.
Kallis cast aside his inhibitions to score 69 not out off 59  balls, while Uthappa was relentless in hammering 66 not out off  just 42 deliveries as their unbeaten partnership of 126 carried  Bangalore to 150 for one.

South African seamer Dillon du Preez (three for 32) had  earlier made an impressive IPL debut with a his top-class  new-ball spell in which he claimed three wickets without  conceding a run in his first eight balls.

His haul included the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar for 11 and  JP Duminy for a single as Bangalore made a dream start by  reducing Mumbai to 23 for three after they had elected to bat  first.

Mumbai staged a fine comeback, however, as half-centuries by  Sanath Jayasuriya (52) and Dwayne Bravo (50 not out) lifted them  to 149 for four.

The Punjab Kings XI clinched a six-wicket victory at the  close against the Kolkata Knight Riders, whose hopes of making  the semi-finals are rapidly receding after their sixth defeat in  eight matches, at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth.

The Knight Riders dropped a number of catches to make the  Kings XI task easier after they were set 154 to win in 20 overs.

Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardena scored 52 not  out off 41 to balls to steer Punjab home.

The second-wicket pairing of Sunny Sohal (25) and Australian  Simon Katich (34) added 43 runs in four overs to allow Punjab to  recover from the early loss of Kumar Sangakkarra.

Ishant Sharma claimed two wickets to bring Kolkata back into  the game.
Australian Brad Hodge had earlier top-scored with the bat  for the Knight Riders with 70 not out, which came off just 43  balls.

The powerful right-hander had support from Saurav Ganguly  (22) and South African Morne van Wyk (18 not out) as Kolkata  nearly tripled their score in the last 10 overs.

The Deccan Chargers and the Delhi Daredevils are the other  teams on eight points with matches in hand over Punjab and  Bangalore.

The Chargers must beat the Chennai Super Kings in East  London today to prevent last year’s losing finalists from  going to the top of the standings.

Punjab will be back in action against the defending champion  Rajasthan Royals in Durban tomorrow.