MI vs RCB tonight

Mumbai Indians brought Mitchell Santner back into the starting eleven for Sunday’s Indian Premier League game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Wankhede Stadium, and then chose to bowl first. (indianexpress.com) The match is the 20th of the 2026 season and began at 7:30 p.m. local time in Mumbai on April 12, 2026. Mumbai’s listed eleven included Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Santner. (espncricinfo.com) Royal Challengers Bengaluru opened with Phil Salt and Virat Kohli, with Rajat Patidar captaining the side and Tim David in the middle order. By the middle overs, Salt had given Bengaluru a fast start and Kohli had settled into the innings. (espncricinfo.com) Santner’s inclusion matters because Mumbai used him as a left-arm spin option against a Bengaluru batting group stacked with right-handers, including Salt, Kohli, Patidar, Jitesh Sharma and Tim David. At Wankhede, where teams often chase high totals on a quick-scoring surface, balance in the bowling attack can decide whether a side controls the middle overs. (indianexpress.com) This fixture also carries weight beyond one night because Mumbai and Bengaluru came in as two of the league’s biggest-drawing teams, built around established stars such as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. The official Indian Premier League site lists both franchises in the 2026 competition, where every early-season result shapes the table before the league reaches its midpoint. (iplt20.com) The rivalry has been one-sided over time, though not overwhelmingly so. Sportstar’s pre-match head-to-head tally put Mumbai Indians on 19 wins to Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s 13 in 34 Indian Premier League meetings, with one tie. (sportstar.thehindu.com) That history is carried by familiar names. The same Sportstar data listed Virat Kohli as the highest run-scorer in this matchup with 980 runs, while Jasprit Bumrah led the wicket charts with 29. (sportstar.thehindu.com) As the game unfolded on Sunday night, the team news held: Santner was not just under consideration but on the field, and Mumbai had committed to chasing under lights at Wankhede. (indianexpress.com)