Images: Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders

Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar tosses the coin as Kolkata Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly looks on in the Indian Premier League at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, on Monday.

Ganguly called correctly and had no hesitation in opting to bat first on a slow wicket at the CCI.

The visitors included Chris Gayle into their team in place of Brad Hodge.

Meanwhile, Mumbai rested Sanath Jayasuriya for the game with Ryan McLaren taking his place. Also Shikar Dhawan came in for the injured Ambati Rayudu.

Sachin Tendulkar's unbeaten half-century helped Mumbai outclass Kolkata by seven wickets and take top place in the IPL standings.

Photograph: IPL/Getty Images

Kolkata captain Ganguly once struggled to get going as he scored a sedate 31 from 34 balls, having hit five boundaries.

His opening partnership with Gayle yielded 70 runs off 11 overs before he was bowled by Harbhajan Singh.

A maiden half-century by Chris Gayle, playing in his first match this season, helped Kolkata post 155 for two in their 20 overs.

Gayle made 75 from 60 deliveries, having hit seven boundaries and two sixes, but it was a rather uncharacteristic innings.

The West Indies captain was not allowed room to play his shots for most parts of the match though there were flashes of belligerence that is synonymous with his batting.

Harbhajan Singh impressed with the ball as he claimed one for 17 in his four overs.

Zaheer Khan took two wickets in his final over, that of Owais Shah (31 from 23 balls) and Gayle, to finish with two for 27 from four overs.

Chasing a modest 156 for victory, Mumbai Indians got off to a good start.

Left-hander Shikhar Dhawan started the innings with a blaze as he blasted three boundaries in Shane Bond's opening over.

Sachin Tendulkar joined the party as he slammed Ishant Sharma for three boundaries twice in his first two overs as Mumbai raced to 45 for no loss after four overs.

Saurabh Tiwary slammed Angelo Mathews straight down the ground for a huge six, in the 12th over.

He then hit Chris Gayle for three boundaries to get going after a steady start.

The left-hander was dismissed for a quick 30 from 24 balls courtesy of a brilliant one-handed diving catch from Ganguly at covers off Ishant.

There was no stopping Tendulkar as he guided Mumbai Indians home with an unbeaten half-century.

Tendulkar finished unbeaten on a remarkable innings of 71 from 48 deliveries, laced with ten boundaries, as Mumbai cruised to 156 for three in 18.3 overs to register a convincing seven-wicket victory.

Mumbai moved to the top of the standings with six points from four matches ahead of Bangalore and Deccan Chargers on a better run rate. Mumbai continued their winning run against Kolkata, having won all the five matches played between them.