Rajneesh Gupta brings you the drama and the magic behind all the 12 IPL finals so far.
Mumbai Indians registered a thrilling one-run win over Chennai Super Kings in the final of IPL 2019.
In a match of pulsating fortunes Lasith Malinga was left to defend 8 runs in the final over.
Malinga had gone for 20 runs in his third over, but he delivered when it mattered the most.
With Chennai Super Kings needing 2 runs off the last ball, Malinga's slow yorker left Shardul Thakur flummoxed, trapping him in front as Mumbai players and fans erupted in the joy.
Mumbai Indians thus became the first team to win the IPL trophy four times.
For Chennai Super Kings, it was the fifth occasion when they had to be content as the runners-up.
Here is a walk through the past to see what happened in the final of each edition of the IPL since its inception.
2008: Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings at Navi Mumbai
Royals stood first in the group stage, whereas Super Kings ended third.
Royals then beat Delhi Daredevils in the semi-final by 105 runs to make it to the final, whereas Super Kings beat Kings XI Punjab by nine wickets.
Winning the toss, Royals' captain Shane Warne opted to field first.
The Super Kings scored 163 for five in the allotted 20 overs.
Suresh Raina top-scored for the Super Kings with 43 off 30 balls, while Parthiv Patel (38) and skipper MS Dhoni (29*) also made useful contributions.
Yusuf Pathan was pick of the bowlers for the Royals with figures of 3 for 22 in four overs.
The Royals did not have a solid start and were in fact 42 for three.
A 65-run fourth wicket partnership between Shane Watson and Yusuf Pathan put the chase back on the track.
With 57 needed in the last six overs, Watson was dismissed off the first ball of the 15th over.
Pathan and Mohammad Kaif took the score to 139 when Kaif was dismissed.
Morne Morkel then dismissed Ravindra Jadeja, but the biggest jolt to Royals chase came when Suresh Raina ran out top-scorer Yusuf Pathan with a direct hit.
21 runs were still needed off 14 balls at this stage.
Mkhaya Ntini bowled the penultimate over and conceded only 6 runs off first five deliveries.
With the pressure building up, Shane Warne smacked his last ball through cover for a boundary.
Royals now needed 8 runs off the last over.
Laxmipathy Balaji bowled the last over.
The equation came down to three off two balls.
Two runs came off the fifth ball and the scores were level.
With the field set to save a single, Sohail Tanvir hit one through mid-on and the pair scrambled for the winning run.
Royals won by three wickets.
Yusuf Pathan was declared man of the match for his all-round performance.
Royals received the IPL trophy along with a cheque of Rs 4.8 crores, while \Super Kings collected a cheque of Rs 2.4 crores.
2009: Deccan Chargers vs Royal Challengers Bangalore at Johannesburg
In 2009 the IPL had to be shifted to South Africa.
The final was played between Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore at Johannesburg
Chargers, captained by Adam Gilchrist, came fourth in group stage table, whereas Royal Challengers, led by Anil Kumble, stood at the third position.
They had defeated Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Super Kings respectively in the semi-finals.
Royal Challengers captain Anil Kumble opted to field first after winning the toss.
Chargers ended with 143 for six after losing their captain Adam Gilchrist in the first over.
Herschelle Gibbs was the top-scorer for Chargers with 53 off 48 balls.
For Royal Challengers, skipper Anil Kumble took four wickets for 16 runs.
The wickets kept falling at regular intervals in Challengers' innings.
At half-way stage the Royal Challengers were 69 for three.
Rahul Dravid then got out in the 12th over.
Ross Taylor and Virat Kohli tried to put the chase back on track, but in the 15th over Andrew Symonds dismissed both with successive deliveries and tilted the game in Deccan's favour.
The equation boiled down to 27 in the last two overs.
R Vinay Kumar hit a boundary off the first ball of the penultimate over and Robin Uthappa hit a six off the fourth ball of the over.
Vinay Kumar hit the last ball of the over towards leg side, but Harmeet Singh, running from fine-leg, took a stunning catch, leaving Royal Challengers to score 15 runs off the final over.
But RP Singh conceded only 8 runs in his over which included four leg-byes, and Deccan Chargers won by six runs.
Kumble, despite ending on the losing side, was named man of the match.
2010: Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians at Navi Mumbai
Mumbai Indians reached the final for the first time after topping the group stage under Sachin Tendulkar.
For Chennai Super Kings it was their second final in three seasons after ending at number three in the group stage.
The two teams had defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore and Deccan Chargers respectively in the semi-finals.
Winning the toss, Super Kings' captain MS Dhoni opted to bat first.
Riding on Suresh Raina's 57* off 35, skipper Dhoni's 22 and a late cameo of 15 from Albie Morkel, Super Kings reached 168 for five in the allotted 20 overs.
Mumbai Indians got an early jolt as opener Shikhar Dhawan got out for a duck in the second over. However, Tendulkar and Abhishek Nayar tried to put the innings back on track with a 67-run stand for the second wicket.
But these two consumed too many balls and the pressure kept building.
When Nayar was finally dismissed after scoring 27 off 26 balls, the asking rate had already crossed 11.
As the pressure started mounting, the wickets started tumbling.
Tendulkar fell in the 15th over after scoring 48 off 45 balls.
Mumbai Indians had held back Kieron Pollard for the final assault, but they perhaps erred in not sending him in earlier.
When Pollard came in to bat, Mumbai Indians needed 55 runs in the last three overs.
Even though Pollard played a cameo of 27 off 10 balls, it was too late.
Mumbai Indians ended with 146 for nine and Chennai Super Kings won by 22 runs.
Suresh Raina was awarded the man of the match for his knock of unbeaten 57 and a wicket.
2011: Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore at Chennai
Second time unlucky for Royal Challengers as Chennai Super Kings beat them by 58 runs.
Royal Challengers, captained by Daniel Vettori, topped the group stage table, whereas Super Kings, led by MS Dhoni, stood at the second position with just one point less than Royal Challengers' 19.
Winning the toss, Super Kings' captain MS Dhoni elected to bat first.
The opening pair of Michael Hussey and Murali Vijay put on 159 runs -- an IPL record -- to set the foundation for a huge total.
It was only in the 15th over that these two were separated.
And although Super Kings lost a flurry of wickets thereafter, they ended with an imposing total of 205 for five.
Hussey scored 63 off 45 balls and Murali Vijay 95 off 52 balls.
R Ashwin then derailed Royal Challengers' chase by packing off Gayle for a duck in the first over.
The match was decided there and then.
And when AB de Villiers also went cheaply, it was clear that Royal Challengers were playing a lost battle.
They ended with 147 for 8 -- short by 58 runs.
Saurabh Tiwary was the top-scorer for Royal Challengers with 42* off 34 balls, while Virat Kohli scored 35 off 32 balls.
R Ashwin was Super Kings' wrecker-in-chief with three for 16 in four overs.
Murali Vijay was declared man of the match for his scintillating innings.
It was the first time that a defending champion of the tournament qualified for the final and won the title.
Previous champions Rajasthan Royals (2008) and Deccan Chargers (2009) failed to qualify for the final or defend their title in the next tournament.
Also, with this win Chennai Super Kings became the only team to have won the IPL more than once.
2012: Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Chennai
Kolkata Knight Riders finished number two in the league stage, while Chennai Super Kings finished at number four.
Knight Riders qualified for the final by beating the table-toppers Delhi Daredevils in the playoffs.
Chennai Super Kings reached the final after beating Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils in the playoffs.
A hamstring injury to Lakshmipathy Balaji forced the Knight Riders to include Brett Lee in their eleven, which meant that the Knight Riders had to leave out their former captain and wicket-keeper batsman Brendon McCullum to maintain the cap of four foreign players.
Manvinder Bisla replaced McCullum in the final eleven.
Before this final, Bisla had scored 414 runs in 21 IPL innings at 19.71 and a strike rate of 109.23 -- nothing extraordinary.
But this was a final that would belong to Bisla!
Chennai Super Kings opted to bat first after they won the toss and ended with 190 for three in the allotted 20 overs.
The openers Murali Vijay and Mike Hussey -- like they did in 2011 final -- gave the Super Kings a good start.
These two put on 87 before Vijay was dismissed for 42 (from 32 balls) in the 11th over.
Mike Hussey was then joined by Suresh Raina, and these two upped the ante.
Raina was dismissed off the last ball of the innings, but by that time he had taken Super Kings to a formidable total.
Raina made 73 off 38 balls with five sixes.
Knight Riders lost their captain Gautam Gambhir in the first over, but Manvinder Bisla and Jacques Kallis sailed them out of trouble with a partnership of 136 runs for the second wicket.
Bisla was the more adventurous of the two and his innings threatened to take the game away from Super Kings.
The first signs of trouble for the defending champions was when Bisla crashed Albie Morkel for four off-side fours in the fourth over to kickstart Knight Riders's innings.
None of the Super Kings bowlers managed to trouble Bisla, who continued his pyrotechnics with ridiculous ease.
The century was there for Bisla's taking, but he was undone by a slower one from Albie Morkel in the fifteenth over, after scoring 89 off 48 balls with 8 fours and 5 sixes.
The wickets kept falling around Kallis and when he was also dismissed off the penultimate ball of the 19th over, Knight Riders needed 16 runs off the last seven balls.
Shakib Al Hasan was caught off the very next delivery from Hilfenhaus but it was declared a no-ball on height and amid the celebrations amid Super Kings players, Shakib had completed two runs and retained strike.
Shakib then hit a boundary off the next ball and only nine runs were needed off the final over.
Only two singles came off the first two balls, but Manoj Tiwary hit consecutive fours to spark wild celebrations in the Knight Riders camp.
Bisla was declared man of the match for his sparking innings.
2013: Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians at Kolkata
Mumbai Indians won their first IPL title playing in their second IPL final, after losing to Chennai in 2010.
Chennai were playing their fifth IPL Final, and attempting to win their third title.
Chennai and Mumbai were dominant throughout the group stage.
At the end of the group stage, they were ranked first and second respectively and each had 11 wins from 16 matches.
Rohit Sharma -- Mumbai captain -- had no hesitation in batting after winning the toss.
However, Mumbai's innings began poorly as their batsmen were troubled by Mohit Sharma and Albie Morkel's straight deliveries.
Mumbai's innings was reeling at 16 for three, with both opening batsmen Dwayne Smith and Aditya Tare, and Rohit Sharma back in the dugout in the first four overs.
Dinesh Karthik and Ambati Rayudu then attempted to build a partnership but also struggled and Karthik was dismissed after they added 36 runs.
In came Kieron Pollard in the tenth over and he started playing his strokes immediately.
Pollard and Rayudu played freely against R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja to lift Mumbai to 100 for 4 after 15 overs.
The following delivery, Rayudu fell to Dwayne Bravo for 37 runs and Mumbai was left with only Pollard and their bowlers.
Harbhajan Singh briefly provided support for Pollard with boundaries coming from the edges of his bat before he fell to Bravo off a mishit.
The remaining batsmen only made minimal contributions and most were dismissed by Bravo, who finished with figures of 4 for 42.
Despite Pollard getting his third half-century of the season, Mumbai could only achieve a total of 148 for 9.
Lasith Malinga tormented the Super Kings' innings with a double-strike in his first over, getting rid of Michael Hussey and Suresh Raina in two successive deliveries.
Badrinath followed in the next over and Chennai's score was 3 for 3.
The wickets continued to fall due to poor shot selection and Chennai were reduced to 39 for 6 in the eighth over.
Dhoni attempted to rescue the innings but wickets continued to tumble around him.
It was finally in R Ashwin that Dhoni found a partner who was ready to hang on.
Dhoni then started his six-hitting spree, but the asking rate slowly became unmanageable.
Ashwin was dismissed in the 18th over.
Super Kings finally ended at 125 for nine with Dhoni remaining unbeaten on 63 off 45 which included five sixes.
Mumbai won by 23 runs.
Pollard's contribution earned him the man of the match award.
2014: Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Bengaluru
The first 20 matches of this edition were played in the UAE as the tournament's dates clashed with the general elections in India.
Kings XI Punjab had been the most improved side in this edition, winning 11 of their 14 league matches, including first five on the trot.
Kolkata Knight Riders, on the other hand, had won only two of their first seven matches, but then won the next seven on the trot to finish second in the points table after Kings XI Punjab.
They were the first team to qualify for the final after they beat Kings XI Punjab in the first qualifier.
Knight Riders won the toss and elected to field.
Kings XI got off to a shaky start and scored only 58 for two in the first 10 overs.
However, the second half saw a dramatic turn as Wriddhiman Saha and Manan Vohra took the attack to the opposition camp.
These two had added only 28 runs in the first 4.5 overs up to the tenth over, but then changed gears and put on 73 runs in the next five overs.
Vohra got out in the 17th over after scoring 67 off 52 balls, but Saha continued his onslaught to become the first player to score a century in an IPL final.
Kings XI ended with 199 for four with Saha remaining unbeaten on 115 off just 55 balls.
Knight Riders lost Uthappa early, but Manish Pandey set the tone for their chase.
Together with Gautam Gambhir, he kept scoring briskly.
After the powerplay ended Knight Riders had 59 runs on the board, though not even a single six was hit.
When Gambhir holed out to Karanveer Singh, Pandey was joined by Yusuf Pathan and these two did not let the asking rate climb up.
Yusuf was dismissed in the 14th over and wickets started to tumble around Pandey, but he was not too fussed about that.
Pandey was up against Karanveer who took 4 wickets and Axar Patel, who conceded at an RPO of only 5.25. Pandey was finally dismissed in the 17th over after scoring 94 off 50 balls with seven fours and six sixes.
Knight Riders needed 15 runs in the last two overs.
Only four runs came off the first five balls of the 19th over bowled by Mitchell Johnson.
Johnson had so far bowled yorker-length or full throughout the over, but with 11 needed off the seven balls, Johnson bowled a short one at Piyush Chawla, who walked across his crease and dispatched it over backward squareleg boundary.
With five needed in the last over, Knight Riders achieved the target with three wickets and three balls to spare.
Manish Pandey was awarded player of the match for his 94 off 50 balls
2015: Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings at Kolkata
It was the third time that these two teams met in the final, having previously played each other in the 2010 and 2013 finals.
Chennai and Mumbai were ranked first and second respectively on the league table.
These two met in the first qualifier where Mumbai defeated Chennai by 25 runs to reach the final.
Chennai had to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore in the second qualifier to reach the final.
The toss was won by Chennai who chose to bowl first.
Mumbai's innings began with opener Parthiv Patel being run out for a duck in the first over.
Rohit Sharma then joined Lendl Simmons at the crease and started aggressively.
These two continued to attack the Super Kings bowlers, with the former reaching his sixth half-century of the season.
Dwayne Bravo was introduced into the attack in the 12th over and Sharma was dismissed soon after completing his 50 which had come off just 24 balls.
Dwayne Smith then claimed the wicket of Simmons in the first ball of the following over, which was also Smith's first ball of the season.
Kieron Pollard and Ambati Rayudu then took charge and added 71 runs in less than seven overs before Mohit Sharma dismissed Pollard off the final ball of the 19th over.
Mumbai were able to post 202 for 5 by the end of their innings.
Chennai's run-chase got off to a slow start as Dwayne Smith was struggling to time the ball.
Mitchell McClenaghan accounted for Michael Hussey in the fifth over for 4.
Suresh Raina then arrived at the crease and suddenly Smith found his touch.
These two had added 66 runs in 7.1 overs when Harbhajan Singh dismissed Smith for 57 in the 12th over.
Harbhajan also got rid of Raina in his next over.
From 14th over to the 18th over, Chennai lost a wicket in each over as the required run rate increased after every over.
Ravindra Jadeja and Mohit Sharma stopped this wicket-falling spree and added 24 runs for the ninth wicket but Chennai ended 41 runs behind as Mumbai lifted their second IPL trophy.
Rohit Sharma was awarded man of the match for his 26-ball 50.
2016: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bangalore at Bengaluru
Mumbai -- the home of previous IPL winners -- was supposed to host the final, but a Supreme Court ruling said that all the matches (including the final) scheduled to be played in Maharashtra after May 1 had to be shifted out.
Bengaluru was thus chosen as the venue for the final.
Sunrisers were playing their first final, while this was the third final for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
David Warner won the toss and elected to bat first despite the fact that the ground had favoured chasing sides more.
Sunrisers were given a dream start by skipper Warner and Shikhar Dhawan.
Warner set the ground on fire with his scintillating stroke-play.
He was unfazed with the dismissals of Dhawan and Henriques.
The Australian opener smashed 69 off 38 balls before falling in the 14th over.
Warner's dismissal did not bring any respite for the Royal Challengers as first Yuvraj and then Ben Cutting hammered the bowling.
Cutting's onslaught on Shane Watson in the final over -- that produced 24 runs -- proved to be the match's turning point.
Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle gave Royal Challengers a perfect start, putting on a hundred-run partnership for the opening wicket in just nine overs.
Gayle was in tremendous form, clobbering sixes at will against the best bowling side of the tournament.
However, his dismissal in the 11th over gave Sunrisers the opening they were looking for.
Within a space of 20 balls, Sunrisers also got rid of Kohli and de Villiers.
As the pressure mounted, Royal Challengers started to choke.
51 were needed off the last five overs.
First KL Rahul and then Shane Watson threw their wickets away trying to slog.
The rest of the batsmen were left with too much to do and despite the tailenders' best efforts, Royal Challengers ended 8 runs short.
Ben Cutting was declared man of the match.
2017: Mumbai Indians vs Rising Pune Supergiant at Hyderabad
This was Mumbai Indians' fourth appearance in an IPL final, while Rising Pune Supergiant were playing their first final in their second and final year in the IPL.
Pune had beaten Mumbai in all three previous meetings in the season.
Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first.
The start was poor as Mumbai lost both openers to Jaydev Unadkat in the third over of the innings.
With the run rate getting slowed down, Rohit Sharma looked to counter-attack and struck four boundaries in the last over of powerplay bowled by Lockie Ferguson.
Ferguson, however, came back to remove Ambati Rayudu in his next over, and Adam Zampa dismissed Sharma and Kieron Pollard in the 11th over to leave Mumbai reeling at 65 for five.
The slide continued as Mumbai collapsed to 81 for seven after 15 overs.
Krunal Pandya, the last recognised batsman, then scored rapidly, making 47 runs from 38 deliveries, with tail-end support from Australian Mitchell Johnson who scored 13.
Mumbai's innings concluded at 129 for 8 in 20 overs -- the lowest total for the side batting first in an IPL final.
Pune started positively in their chase.
The wicket of Rahul Tripathi brought Ajinkya Rahane and Steve Smith together.
These two put on 54 runs for the second wicket, but took 9.3 overs to score these runs.
Rahane went in the 12th over after scoring 44 from 38 balls.
Smith had made 18 off 25 balls by then.
Dhoni came at number four, but struggled to rotate the strike.
After 15 overs Pune's score read 83 for two, leaving them 47 to get from the last 5 overs.
14 came in the 16th over before Jasprit Bumrah bowled a brilliant 17th over conceding only three runs and dismissing Dhoni.
A six of the penultimate ball of the penultimate over left Pune to get 11 runs in the final over to be bowled by Johnson.
Manoj Tiwary struck a four off the first ball, before he and Smith were dismissed caught in the deep in the next two deliveries.
A dropped catch off the penultimate ball allowed Pune to get two runs and come within four runs of the target with one ball to go.
Dan Christian hit the final ball of the match to deep square leg boundary where substitute fielder fumbled but recovered quickly to collect the ball and send a good throw to the keeper Parthiv Patel.
Patel ran out Washington Sundar, who was attempting a third run that would have levelled the scores, resulting in a thrilling one-run victory for Mumbai Indians.
Krunal Pandya was awarded man of the match for his 38-ball 47.
2018: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Chennai Super Kings at Mumbai
Never before in IPL history has a single player made such an impact in the biggest game of the season as Shane Watson made on that fateful day.
Sunrisers got off to a cautious start.
After the opener Sreevats Goswami was run out by his own mistake, the other opener Shikhar Dhawan and skipper Kane Williamson ensured there were no more hiccups.
Despite the slow scoring, these two somehow managed to find boundaries.
Dhawan's dismissal in the eighth over brought Shakib Al Hasan on the crease.
Williamson and Shakib then upped the ante.
Williamson got out to the first ball of the 13th over after making 47 off 36 balls.
Shakib and Hooda followed soon.
But Yusuf Pathan's 45* off 25 and Carlos Brathwaite's 21 off 11 ensured Sunrisers had posted a total of 178 for six -- a total just above par.
Sunrisers had successfully defended much lower totals earlier in the season, so there was still hope for them despite their woeful record against Super Kings which had seen them losing all the three matches in the season.
Shane Watson had been dismissed for a duck by Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the last meeting between these two sides.
However, Watson still took first strike and was all at sea again, playing out a maiden.
It was not until he played his 11th ball that Watson opened his account.
The mounting pressure because of Watson's inability to score runs perhaps played a part in Faf du Plessis's dismissal.
After 5 overs, the score read 20 for one.
In the last over of powerplay Watson struck in to Sandeep Sharma as the over produced 15.
The carnage had barely begun.
16 came off Sidharth Kaul's over and the asking rate was below 10 now.
Rashid Khan was introduced in to the attack in the eighth over and both Watson and Raina played him watchfully.
However, Kaul was again hit for 16 runs in the ninth over.
8 runs came off Rashid's next over.
Shakib was introduced in to the attack in the 11th over and he was welcomed with two sixes in the over.
As Brathwaite was also hit for nine runs, Williamson brought Sandeep back in the attack.
Watson just launched in to Sandeep, hitting him for three sixes and two fours as 27 runs came of the over.
Only 48 were needed in seven overs after this assault from Watson.
That was a walk in the park as Super Kings chased down the target with nine balls to spare.
Watson remained unbeaten on 117 off just 57 balls, with 11 fours and eight towering sixes.
Chennai Super Kings lifted the trophy for the third time, thus equalling Mumbai Indians' record.
There was never any doubt about Watson's man of the match award.
