2026 IPL The season was over-batting at its peak.A record 27450 runs were scored in the entire season which is the highest in IPL history. The teams scored at an astonishing run rate of 9.88, another all-time high. 1426 sixes were hit, knocking down the 1294 sixes hit a year ago in 2025.It was also a 200 plus score season. Crossed the mark of 200 runs in 65 innings. Chasing became almost routine. Teams have successfully hit more than 220 targets nine times this season alone. Before 2026, it had only happened five times in the previous 18 editions. In all, 18 scores of 200 or more were chased this season – exactly double the number from 2025.Going by these numbers, the final should have been a run-fest.Instead, it was anything but.Gujarat Titans eased their way to 155/8. Royal Challengers Bengaluru chased it down comfortably to retain the IPL title. The chance led to drama, but not the scoring.And it wasn’t the first time.Cast your mind back to 2024. This season was defined by Sunrisers Hyderabad’s batting revolution. Records were broken almost every week as scores once thought impossible became commonplace. Yet when the final came, SRH were bundled out for 113 – the lowest total in IPL final history, and Kolkata Knight Riders chased down the target in just 10.3 overs.Or take the 2022 final in Ahmedabad. Rajasthan Royals Gujarat Titans managed just 130/9 before cruising home with seven wickets to spare.Which raises an interesting question.Are IPL finals usually low-scoring? Do they fail to reflect the batting trends that define the league stage?At first glance, the answer seems obvious.For years, the accepted wisdom has been that the pressure of a title decider stifles scoring. Large nerves. High stakes. More careful batting. Tired pitches at the end of a long tournament.But is it really true?
TOI Data Desk’s analysis of all 19 IPL finals between 2008 and 2026 shows that the answer is more complicated than conventional wisdom would have us believe.In fact, the numbers are the exact opposite of what most fans would expect.Across all 19 IPL finals, the average final has actually scored more runs than the average match in the same season.Here’s the kicker: 10 Finals have scored above their season average, while nine have finished below it.On average, IPL finals have scored 5.7 runs higher than the season average and 5.1 runs higher than the historical scoring average at the venue where they were played.In other words, popular perception doesn’t really hold up when looking at the entire history of the tournament. However, our memories are selective.Low-scoring finals remain. 2024 final. 2022 final. 2026 final. These matches assure us that the finals are cagey affairs. But at the other end of the spectrum sit the IPL finals that have produced run-fests.
The 2016 final between RCB and SRH produced a total of 408 runs, with RCB falling nine runs short of the target of 209 runs. 2014 final scored 399 runs (PBKS 199/7, KKR 200/7). The 2012 decider delivered 382 (CSK 190/3, KKR 192/5).All three were among the highest scoring matches of their respective seasons.So, IPL finals are not inherently defensive contests. They produce a wider range of results than fans remember.That said, there is a trend worth noting. When the focus shifts to the modern era, the picture changes slightly.Since 2018, IPL finals have been around 20 runs below the average season scoring pace.
Now, the sample size is small — just nine finalists. But five of those nine finals have been below their season averages, and four of the biggest underperforming finals in IPL history date back to that period.The biggest outlier is the 2024 finals, which scored 139 runs below the season average. Then there is 2022, 2017 and now 2026.This does not prove that IPL finals are low scoring. But it does suggest that modern finals are trending lower than the league matches around them.Why might this happen?One reason could be the quality of the bowling attack. By the time the finals are reached, only the strongest and most balanced teams remain.Preparation has also become more sophisticated. Teams enter the finals armed with detailed matchup data, opposition plans, and weeks of analysis.
Then there is the pressure of opportunity itself. In a league game, top-order collapses can be brushed aside, and there’s always another match around the corner. In the finals, one bad over or one poor shot can undo a season’s worth of hard work. This alone can make teams a little more cautious than they normally are.Even a slight shift towards caution at the start of an innings can be enough to bring the scoring rate below the season’s normal.And together they offer a plausible explanation as to why the batting explosion seen during recent final league stages appears to be moving away.The idea that IPL finals have always been low-scoring is largely a myth. Over 19 seasons, the Finals have produced roughly the same scoring levels as the competition – if anything, marginally higher.Yet recent years tell a different story.From Sunrisers Hyderabad’s collapse of 113 in 2024 to Gujarat Titans’ 155 in the 2026 final, title deciders seem to be increasingly moving away from the run-fest that defines modern IPL batting.
