IPL: 10 best finals in the history of tournament

Indian Premier League (IPL) is ready to deliver another action-packed season to cricket fans with its 16th season. The cash-rich league has given several moments of joy to its supporters in its fifteen years of journey. Last year, the two most successful franchises of the tournament Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) failed to turn up against their rivals and ended at the bottom of the points table.

Looking back at the past, it could be witnessed that both these franchises played aggressive cricket since the inception of the tournament and made it to the finals majority of times. Both these teams have given some incredible summit clashes in their last 15 years of journey. In the upcoming competition, both teams will look to be at their best and play another decider to lift the prestigious trophy. Talking about other teams, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have also played some quality cricket in the past to mark their presence in a couple of finals in the T20 extravaganza. 

Here are the 10 best IPL finals of all time

10. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) vs Mumbai Indians (MI), 2010 

In the third edition of the IPL, MI played some quality cricket and qualified for the final for the first time under their captain Sachin Tendulkar. On the other hand, MS-Dhoni-led CSK also performed exceptionally well throughout the tournament and reserved their spot to play the decider at DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai.

Winning the toss in the marquee game, CSK skipper MS Dhoni elected to bat first. Coming out to open the innings for CSK, Matthew Hayden and Murali Vijay struggled to pile up runs in the initial overs of the game and fell to MI bowlers under 10 overs. However, with the rapid knocks of Suresh Raina (57 runs off 35 deliveries) and MS Dhoni (22 runs off balls), CSK put up a decent total of 168/5 on the board.

Defending the target, CSK got their first breakthrough in the second over, with Doug Bollinger dismissing Shikhar Dhawan on 0. The left-handed opener’s wicket impacted MI negatively as they got defensive in front of fierce CSK bowlers. Their top performers Tendulkar, JP Duminy, Ambati Rayudu, and Kieron Pollard failed to hold their nerves. In the end, CSK got dominant and pocketed the match by 22 runs to lift their maiden trophy.