Ali, who announced his retirement from Test cricket in September, scored a 20-ball 37 as CSK set a target of 192 in Dubai. But despite an impressive start – with Shubman Gill (51) and Venkatesh Iyer (50) both making half-centuries – KKR slumped to a 27-run defeat. Captain Eoin Morgan scored just five runs on a disappointing evening.

“It’s amazing, and I can’t describe it really,” said Ali, 34, who can add the IPL title to his 50-over World Cup triumph for England in 2019. “I never thought I’d win the IPL and to do it with this team is amazing.”

Put into bat, Chennai amassed 192-3 with opener Faf du Plessis anchoring their innings with 86 off 59 balls, which also earned the South African the man-of-the-match award. Opener Ruturaj Gaikwad made 32 and went on to claim the orange cap as the tournament’s leading scorer.

Kolkata had got off to a flying start with openers Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer smashing individual fifties. Gill made 51 and Iyer scored 50 before the wheels came off their innings and two-time champions Kolkata, cruising at 91-0 in the 11th over, eventually finished on 165-9.

Shardul Thakur (3-38) dismissed Iyer and Nitish Rana in the same over, and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja also bowled a two-wicket over to rip the heart out of Kolkata’s middle order.

All-rounder Jadeja also took two stunning catches in the deep as Chennai, who missed the playoff for the first time last year, went on to claim the title.

“We shuffled a few players, we used them in different ways,” said Kolkata’s captain MS Dhoni of the turnaround after collecting the trophy. “It was important to take responsibility and we had match-winners coming game after game and performing.”