The 2015 Final of the IPL featured the two most successful franchises in the history of the competition – the Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
They had finished the regular season occupying the top two places, with Chennai finishing two points better off. Mumbai, in fact, had the same number of points as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR), but finished ahead of them on net run rate.
Mumbai progressing straight to the final after beating Chennai by 25 runs in the first Qualifier. Bangalore then saw off Rajasthan by 71 runs in the Eliminator to meet Chennai in the second Qualifier. A tight contest that went down to the penultimate ball of the match ended in Chennai edging home by three wickets to set up a re-match with MI.
The final was played at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on 24 May.
Chennai won the toss and decided to field. When Parthiv Patel was run out off just the second ball, that seemed to be the right decision. But Lendl Simmons and captain Rohit Sharma put on 119 for the second wicket. Rohit finally fell for 50, including two sixes.
In the next over, Simmons, who had struck three sixes, departed for 68, but Kieron Pollard and Ambati Rayudu added 71 for the fourth wicket in less than seven overs. They fell for 36 each, but a further 11 came off the last four balls, enabling Mumbai to post 202/5.
Chennai always struggling with the asking rate. Although opener Dwayne Smith made 57, he lacked for real support. For once, M.S. Dhoni was unable to pull a rabbit out of the hat for his side. Lasith Malinga bowled him for 18, and with his dismissal, the rest of the batting caved in.
In the end, the best Chennai could manage was 161/8, and they were well short, beaten by 41 runs.
Captain Rohit was named Player of the Match. He could celebrate leading his side to their second title in three years.