IPL'19: Mumbai Indians; the 'odd' champions

Since 2013 they have always won the marquee T20 league of India after every two years. So, 2019 was not different.

Hyderabad: Mumbai Indians won their record fourth Indian Premier League (IPL) title beating Chennai Super Kings by one run in nail-biting final here at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

This was MI's first title after 2017 when they had defeated Rising Pune Supergiant at the same venue to clinch their third title.

On Sunday, in the last over of the match, CSK were required 9 runs to win the match but Lasith Malinga made full use of his experience by restricting them to 148 in 20 overs to win MI the final of IPL 2019.

Now, it would not be out of place to regard MI as the 'odd champions' as they have won all of their titles in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019 which are odd numbers because they can't be divided by two.

2013

MI, who played their first IPL final in 2010 and lost to Chennai Super Kings, took sweet revenge by beating CSK in the final of IPL 2013 at the Eden Gardens. MI batting first posted 148 for 9 in 20 overs. In response, CSK were restricted to 125 for 9 as MI lifted their maiden IPL title.

Mumbai Indians defeated CSK by 41 runs in 2015 IPL final.

2015

This was the third time MI met CSK in the final and they emulated their success of 2013 by beating MS Dhoni-led CSK by 41 runs at the Eden Gardens. Batting first MI set massive 203 runs target for CSK who managed to score 161 for 8 wickets in 20 overs.

2017

After a gap of two years, MI once again qualified for the final and this time they met RPS at Hyderabad. Like the 2019 edition of IPL, MI had edged out RPS by just one run in a low scoring game.

Batting first MI scored below par 129 runs for 8 wickets. RPS, in reply, fell short of 1 run as the Rohit Sharma led side clinched their third IPL title.

2019

MI follow an interesting pattern when it comes to winning IPL. Since 2013 they have always won the marquee T20 league of India after every two years. So, 2019 was not different. MI, the champions of 2017, met familiar foes CSK for the record fourth time in IPL final on May 12 and earned a hard-fought one-run win to become the first team to win four IPL titles in 12 editions.