MI vs RCB IPL 2023 Highlights: Mumbai Indians defeat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 6 wickets

And Mumbai Indians have won by 6 wickets with 21 balls to go. Wadhera hits six to take MI home and get to his half century. Tis was well set by Suryakumar Yadav, Nehal Wadhera and also Ishan Kishan, who sent MI off to a flier in the powerplay. RCB bowlers were clueless on this batting paradise (as many other bowlers of other teams look). MI go on 3rd place from 8th in the IPL standings. Wow, What a jump. Thanks for joining.

Just 7 needed now. Tim David also departed but the game is pretty much in the pocket of MI

Ohh, the Sky-show comes to an end. He was entertaining the fans so much with his yet another masterclass. He made a fantastic 83 off 35 balls. Just 8 needed of 26 balls

20 runs from the previous over and MI are looking in hurry

And it's a 50 for Suryakumar A 26-ball fifty for the MI batter and he is probably batting RCB out of the game.

And 2 big overs for MI. Suryakumar and Nehal have hit Hasaranga and Hazlewood for 15 and 10 runs, respectively in 11th and 12th overs.

Mumbai have gone past the 100-run mar in the 11th over. Runs are coming but a few tight overs are also coming. Another 101 needed with 8 wickets in hand in 9. Sky is the key for MI

Mumbai Indians have lost 2 wickets in the first 8 overs. Rohit and Kishan are back to the hut. But Suryakumar is along with Nehal as they keep the flow of runs coming. After 8 overs MI 82/2

No Green still for MI. Nehal Wadhera comes out to bat. Possibly because Hasaranga is a leggie and they want a left-hander in the middle.

Wanindu Hasaranga comes and gets the big wicket of Ishan Kishan after getting beaten for a four and a six. It was a quicker bowl, Kishan wanted to cut it but got an edge as Karthik grabs it. Suryakumar comes ahead of Green at 3. Make it another one. Hasaranga has turned the things. He has got Rohit out LBW. The batter lunged forward but got beaten. Umpire did not give it out and RCB reviewed and got the wicket. MI 2 down now.

MI have made a fiery start to their chase. Ishan Kishan has hit 2 sixes off Siraj in the third over of the game. He is looking to go big and is at 25. Rohit on other hand has also shown intent of hitting and he is at 7. After 3 overs, MI 34/0.

We are back with the chase. Rohit Sharma is back to open the innings along with Ishan Kishan. Mohammed Siraj starts for RCB and Kishan opens account with a four on the first ball.

So RCB finish at 199/6 in their 20 overs. MI shall be the happier side. RCB were on route to score scomething around 220 or even more when Faf and Maxwell were firing. But when they went back, there was little by RCB. Karthik made 30 off 18 balls. But is it enough? MI shall fancy to chase it. We will be back with Mi's reply.

Two veterans - Karthik and Jadhav are carrying RCB's batting now. They are looking for a strong finish. RCB are at 170/5 after 17 overs

And there's another big wicket. Cameron Green gets this wicket fortunately. This was fuller outside off and Faf wanted to scoop it. Did not get the connection right and is caught out. Jadhav comes in.

Another wicket down and it's Lomror, RCB's last match half-centurion, who has to go back. He is bowled. A 100 kmph ball fired on stumps. Lomror could not get his bat down on time and is out. Dinesh Karthik now comes in.

And the 120-run partnership is broken. Behrendorf gets the wicket of Glenn Maxwell. This was a slower one but Maxwell wanted to go big. Did not time it and Wadhera takes a catch at deep mid-wicket. 68 off 33 balls for him but his party has ended. Lomror now comes in.

Chawla ends his day conceding 41 runs in his four overs.

And Faf now raises his bat as he has hit another fifty. He is on song this season. His 6th of the season and boy, he is leading by example.

We are halfway stage into the first innings. RCB are going good at the moment. Both Maxwell and Faf are hitting the bowlers and timing the ball well. Maxwell has gone past his fifty and Faf is little away from another half ton. Maxwell is on 51 off 26 and Faf is on 44 off 27. Strange! MI dod not give the second over to Kartikeya. He gave just 5 in the 9th over.

Another fifty for Glenn Maxwell. His fourth of the season. This is a good knock by the Aussie batter. He is timing the ball very sweet today. A 25-ball half ton? Will he convert this into a bigger one?

Maxwell has sent Jordan out of the ground twice in the 7th over and Jordan's first. Two short balls and Maxwell dispatches the England star over leg side for two sixes.

The powerplay is done RCB are at 56/2 after the first 6. Maxwell and Faf are bringing RCB back in track. They have amassed a few fours. 16 off Behrendorff's 5th over and 11 off Chawla's 6th.

RCB have made 29/2 in the first 4 overs. Not the best start that they would have liked. Kohli and Anuj have walked back and Faf and Maxwell are in the middle. Both have mustered a few fours in the innings so far and looking to get going and put the pressure back on MI.

Behrendorff has struck again and he has sent back RCB's number 3 - Anuj Rawat back. This was a strange shot from the batter. He walked across to play a scoop on the on-side but toe ends it as Green runs back from slips to take it.

Faf du Plessis has hit the first four in the game. He has cut Piyush Chawla on a short ball towards covers in the second over. Write another four please. Faf lofts this fuller one towards long-off to make it 2 fours in the 2nd over.

Ohh, that's not a start that RCB would have hoped for. The partnership, which was of 148 runs when these two met last, has been broken way too early. Just 2 on the board and Kohli is gone. He came down the groun to smash it down the ground but misses as the ball kisses the outside of the bat and Kishan does the rest. Umpire did not give him out, probably he might have not heard bu MI's review grant them a big wicket. Anuj Rawat comes in.

And the action is underway in the 54th game of IPL 2023. Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis are out in the middle and they look for a solid start. Is Kohli gone? Yes he is. There is a slight edge as he came down the ground. Behrendorff sends Kohli packing.

Ramandeep Singh, Tristan Stubbs, Vishnu Vinod, Sandeep Warrier and Raghav Goyal. 

Kedar Jadhav, Michael Bracewell, Suyash Prabhudessai, Karn Sharma and Shahbaz Ahmed are RCB's subs. It is less likely we will get to see Jadhav today as RCB are batting first.

Because of the nature of this ground, you generally chase here. Big score always creates pressure. They have a good batting line-up, hopefully we get wickets in their innings. There are a many teams in the race for that third and fourth spot, we need to play well. One change for us, Vyshak comes in for Karn Sharma.

Vijaykumar Vyshak comes in for Karn Sharma. Harshal is in for Kedar Jadhav.

Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis(c), Anuj Rawat, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik(w), Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood

No Tilak Varma still. Jordan comes in for Archer. Behrendorff is in for Stubbs.

Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(w), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Chris Jordan, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya, Jason Behrendorff

We will be bowling first. It has worked for us, we have chased down targets here, it's a good pitch. It looks like a proper Mumbai pitch with even grassing and also a few patches. I am not sure how it's going to play, but we are hoping for the best. We understand the importance of this match, but what's in our hand is in our hand. We need to play well, rest will take care of itself. I think everyone knows thats Archer is out,. We got Jordan, he will make his debut today. 

MI have won the toss and they will be bowling first. Chris Jordan to make his debut for MI as he comes in place of Archer. Meanwhile, RCB call Vyshak in for Karn Sharma.

The surface at the Wankhede Stadium helps batters go big. There have been many high-scoring games here this season and another one shall be on the cards. Also, the ground dimensions are not big enough for batters to keep their hands tight.

MI's squad:

Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Chris Jordan, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal, Arshad Khan, Kumar Kartikeya, Ramandeep Singh , Dewald Brevis, Raghav Goyal, Vishnu Vinod, Riley Meredith, Shams Mulani, Arjun Tendulkar, Tilak Varma, Hrithik Shokeen, Duan Jansen, Sandeep Warrier, Jason Behrendorff

RCB's squad:

Faf du Plessis (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Virat Kohli, Anuj Rawat, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Kedar Jadhav, Wanindu Hasaranga, Karn Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood, Harshal Patel, Suyash Prabhudessai, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Michael Bracewell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Akash Deep, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, Himanshu Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Wayne Parnell, Sonu Yadav, Finn Allen, Siddarth Kaul

RCB have lost two of their last three games coming into the second half of the season. They have defended the scores well and are finding hard to chase down the targets. 

Form guide - L,W,L,W,W (most recent first)

The second half of the season is proving out to be better for MI. They have won two of their last three matches. Coming into the second half, they defeated RR and PBKS before going down to CSK.

Form guide - L,W,W,L,L (most recent first)

This contest is a crucial one for both teams. The fight for the playoffs is as hard as it can get. Just 2 points separate the fourth and the tenth-placed team. MI and RCB are in the middle of this with the latter being at 5th and the former occupying the 8th spot. Both teams have 5 wins in 10 games and a win will take them into the top 4. However, a loss will bring that team to a must-win territory. So, all the MI and RCB fans would be having their fingers crossed, amirite?

Hello and a warm welcome to everyone to the live coverage of match number 54 in IPL 2023. It's the big match between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Two Indian icons - Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are set to be in action in this contest at the Wankhede Stadium. It's getting tight in the points table and all the teams are still very much in competition to reach the final four. But given that, the margin of error are as minimal as ever. Stay tuned for all the updates from the match, as I Varun Malik, walk alongside you in this game.