How many times have teams finishing 1st and 2nd won IPL title?

After 56 league stages and three playoff games, IPL 2020 will see the final between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. After the end of the league stages, Mumbai Indians finished on top of the table with 18 points while Delhi Capitals ended in second position with 16 points. Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad ended on 14 points with David Warner's team finishing third due to a better Net Run-Rate. Mumbai Indians stormed into the final with a big win over Delhi Capitals while Delhi Capitals entered the final with a win over Sunrisers Hydrabad in Qualifier 2.

With Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians entering the final, this is the fourth consecutive season that the No.1 and No.2 ranked teams in the points table are contesting the final. Overall, this is the eighth instance of No.1 vs No.2 in the final, with the first instance being in IPL 2011 when Chennai Super Kings took on Royal Challengers Bangalore. The question now is, how many times have teams finishing first in the points table won the title as compared to the team that finishes second in the league stage? The answer is pretty strange

Teams finishing 2nd with an advantage

Teams that have finished second in the points table won the IPL title six times, including five consecutive from 2011 to 2015. In IPL 2011, Chennai Super Kings won the title by beating top-ranked Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai. In IPL 2012, Kolkata Knight Riders denied Chennai Super Kings while in 2013, Mumbai Indians broke the jinx by beating Chennai Super Kings in Kolkata. In IPL 2014, Kolkata Knight Riders got the better of Kings XI Punjab while Mumbai Indians hurt Chennai Super Kings again.

Chennai Super Kings showed that finishing 2nd was the charm as they won against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2018 final. However, there are three instances of a team that finished on top of the league stages and won the title.

Remarkably, Mumbai Indians have won two times while finishing on top of the table in IPL 2017 and IPL 2019. In both those instances, they won the match by one run. The first instance was in IPL 2008 when Rajasthan Royals won against Chennai Super Kings but that was also of the last ball.

The trends are clear. If the team finishes second, the chances of winning the title are greater. If the team finishes first, they win the title by the skin of their teeth. Advantage Delhi Capitals?