DC vs KKR: How many times has a 4th-placed team entered IPL final?

Kolkata Knight Riders have become the third ever team to make it to the Indian Premier League final after finishing fourth in the group stage of the tournament. They did so by defeating the Delhi Capitals by three wickets in a very close fought match. There are only two teams that had finished fourth in the group stage and made it to the final of the Indian Premier League. Deccan Chargers did it back in 2009 and the Chennai Super Kings did so in 2012.

In 2009, a fourth-placed Deccan Chargers managed to defeat the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in the semi-final by six wickets to get to the final. They then managed to defeat Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final by six runs to lift the trophy.

CSK, on the other hand, got to the final through a tougher route, as the IPL had adopted the playoff system by 2021, wherein the third and the fourth-placed teams had to win two matches to get to the final. CSK first defeated the Mumbai Indians in the eliminator match by 38 runs. They then defeated Delhi Daredevils by an amazing 86 runs but were sadly halted by KKR in the final as they lost by five wickets.

Interestingly, KKR now have done what CSK did back in 2012. Hence, it's a question of whether CSK can avenge their loss. KKR could now become only the second fourth-placed team of the group stages to win the IPL after Deccan Chargers in 2009.

DC vs KKR

After some superb bowling from KKR's mystery spinners, Delhi Capitals were only able to set a target of 136. And as KKR began the chase well, scoring 15 in the first two overs, openers Venkatesh Iyer and Gill took them to 51/0 by the end of the PowerPlay.

They then quickly raced to 76/0 in 10 overs and needed 60 runs in 60 balls. Iyer was exceptional in his batting, as he hit 55 off 41 balls and put KKR in the driving seat. Shubhman Gill played a fantastic innings by scoring 46 off 46, as KKR needed just 13 in the last 24 balls.

However, the match was not done just yet. Some exquisite death-over bowling from Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje took the match to the last over. While Ravichandran Ashwin did well to hold KKR, with 6 runs needed off the last two balls, Rahul Tripathi hit a brilliant six to finish it off and hand KKR the win.

(Image: iplt20.com/BCCI)