Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015: Statistical review of IPL finals

Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are all set to contest for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 title at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on May 24, 2015. Bharath Seervi reviews the previous seven finals of IPL with statistics and numbers.

After seven successful editions of IPL the eighth season comes to an end with the two teams that have won most matches across editions — CSK and MI — clash in the final at Eden Gardens, no less — on May 24. CSK have lifted the trophy twice and MI once. Scorecard: Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings, IPL 2015 Final

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The first season was won by the team that was bought for the lowest amount in the auctions — Rajasthan Royals (RR); they made a statement that IPL success need not depend on money. You need something more to pull off that extra bit. MI vs CSK, IPL 2015 Final at Eden Gardens, Preview

In the next season, the two finalists were the two bottom ranked teams of the first season — Deccan Chargers (DC) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). DC, who finished last in the previous season, went on to win the title, which proved there was nothing constant in the tournament. Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings, IPL 2015 Final: Key Clashes

CSK beat MI in the final of the third season and defended their title in the fourth season by beating RCB. CSK entered the finals of the fifth and sixth seasons as well but ended as runner-ups as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and MI beat them respectively. KKR once again chased a huge target to clinch the IPL title beating Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the finals of the seventh season.

List of IPL finals: 

Eden Gardens will host an IPL final for the second time. It will become the third venue after Dr DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai and MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai to host multiple IPL finals.
–    Four finals have been won by teams batting first, and three by chasing teams. KKR entered into finals twice and they won both matches batting second; they chased down 191 and 200 in 2012 and 2014 respectively.

–    CSK has been part of 6 out of 8 finals.

–    MI is the next team with most final appearances (3), all against CSK.

–     Only once has the topper of the league stage gone on to clinch the title — RR, in the very first season.

–    In both finals KKR won the Man of the Match was an uncapped Indian player. In none of the other five finals has the Man of the Match been an uncapped player.

–    2009 was the only final where the Man of the Match was awarded to the player from losing side — Anil Kumble. It was also the only final played outside India.

–    Kumble was captaining his side in the final. He is the only captain to have won Man of the Match in an IPL final.

–    Kieron Pollard is the only overseas player to win man of the match in IPL final. After all, Indian players come handy when it comes to the final stage of Indian Premier League!

Captains in the IPL finals:

The captains for the 2015 finals are again MS Dhoni (CSK) and Rohit Sharma (MI). They are the first captains to lead against each other in two IPL finals (2013 and 2015).

Very few captains have produced good performances in IPL finals. The notable ones are: Kumble (4 for 16 in 2009 for RCB; also Man of the Match); Sachin Tendulkar (48 in 2010 for MI) and Dhoni (63* in 2013 for CSK).

50+ scores by batsmen in IPL finals:

IPL finals have witnessed 14 scores in excess of fifty — 13 half-centuries and a century. The only century by Wriddhiman Saha in the 2014 final could not win the match for KXIP.

–    Suresh Raina and Mike Hussey are the only players to have scored more than one half-century in IPL finals.

–    The innings by Yusuf Pathan, Manvinder Bisla, Jacques Kallis and Manish Pandey have come in successful chases.

–    Dhoni is the only batsman to have scored a fifty in an unsuccessful chase in an IPL final.

–    Aditya Tare and Suresh Raina in 2013 and Glenn Maxwell in 2014 are the only top-order batsmen to get out for golden ducks in IPL finals.

–    Dhoni is the only captain in the above list. The next best score by a captain in an IPL final is 48 by Tendulkar in 2010.

3 or more wickets by bowlers in IPL finals

Three bowlers took 4 wickets in an IPL final and three more took 3 wickets. It may be interesting to note that none of the four-wicket hauls resulted in victory.

–    Yusuf Pathan scored 56 (39) and took 3 for 22 with the ball in the 2008 final — the best all-round performance in an IPL final.

–    Karanveer Singh claimed 4 for 54 in the 2014 final. While this is one of the three four-fors, it is the most runs conceded by a bowler in an IPL final. He is the only one to concede over 50 runs in an IPL final. Dwayne Bravo comes second, with 49 in the 2012 final. Both came against KKR in the two finals they won by chasing in 2012 and 2014.

Appearing in IPL finals for two or more different teams

Dwayne Smith, Vinay Kumar and Parthiv Patel may be added to the above list if they play the final.

Footnote Trivia:

Yusuf, Rohit and Pragyan Ojha are the only players to have been part of two IPL final winning sides. Yusuf was the first to achieve this for RR (2008) and for KKR (2012 and 2014). In all the three finals, his team won. Rohit and Ojha were part of DC in 2009 and MI in 2013. Rohit was, in fact, skipper of MI in their 2013 victory.

Lakshmipathy Balaji, Saurabh Tiwary and Zaheer Khan are the only players who appeared in IPL finals for two different teams and both their teams lost the finals. Balaji was on the losing side for CSK in 2008 and KXIP in 2014, while Tiwary and Zaheer were the unfortunate parties for MI in 2010 and RCB in 2011.

(Bharath Seervi is a cricket statistician who is obsessed with digging numbers, facts and records related to the game. An active member of Society of Cricket Statisticians of India, he blogs at www.cricketseervistats.blogspot.com. He can be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SeerviBharath and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SeerviCricket)