Sachin Tendulkar made a blazing half-century to guide the Mumbai Indians to a comfortable seven-wicket win over the Kolkata Knight Riders and to the top of the the Indian Premier League table.

The Mumbai skipper was in a punishing mood as he hit 10 fours for his 71 in reply to Kolkata's 155.

The 36-year-old got his side off to a flyer as he put together 61 in seven overs along with opening partner Shikhar Dhawan.

Murali Karthik claimed Dhawan's (23) wicket in the seventh over. Unfazed by the loss, Tendulkar kept Mumbai's run chase on track with Saurabh Tiwary.

The Knight Riders threatened to get back into the game when skipper Saurav Ganguly caught a stunner off Ishant Sharma in the 14th over to dismiss Tiwary (30). Sharma struck again in the 16th over to snare Kieron Pollard (seven).

But Tendulkar stayed unbeaten to take his side home with Rajagopal Sathish (21 not out).

Earlier, the opening duo of Ganguly and Chris Gayle gave Kolkata a slow but steady start as they added 71 in 11 overs after winning the toss.

The former Indian captain was in an aggressive mood early on in his innings as he hit three boundaries in a row off Ryan McLaren in the third over.

But Tendulkar made quick bowling changes to contain the openers.

The bowlers responded well to their skipper as Lasith Malinga, Harbhajan Singh, Dwayne Bravo and Zaheer Khan did not let the Kolkata batsmen free their arms.

Ganguly (31) was first to go as he tried to hit Harbhajan out of the park in the 11th over but failed to make a connection between the bat and the ball.

Owais Shah joined Gayle in the middle and played a quick-innings of 23 to help the Knight Riders put up a respectable total on the board.

England's middle-order batsman fell to Khan in the 20th over.

Gayle - playing his first IPL game this season - was watchful initially but played some attractive shots in the end.

The West Indies batsman hit seven fours and two sixes for his 75 in 60 balls before getting out to Khan on the last delivery of the Kolkata innings.