The champions played like champions and are champions once again. The story of Mumbai Indians is as simple as that.

Barring the 2010 edition, the Mumbai men have dominated almost all IPL finals they have been part of. The script remained unchanged at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday as well with Mumbai Indians thrashing Delhi Capitals by five wickets with eight balls to spare to clinch their fifth IPL crown, and this time in an even year — 2020.

Mumbai’s bowlers remained disciplined for most part, restricting the Capitals to a modest 156/7 after they won the toss and opted to bat first. Thereafter, it was all about captain Rohit Sharma (68 off 51 balls), who was at his vintage best. The others — Quinton de Kock (20), Suryakumar Yadav (19) and Ishan Kishan (33 not out) — did just enough to complement their captain and overhaul the target.

MoM Trent Boult celebrates after taking the wicket of Marcus Stoinis. PTI

Capitals, who rode the 96-run stand between captain Shreyas Iyer (65 not out) and Rishabh Pant (56) to post a 150-plus total, desperately needed their premier bowlers, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, to make early inroads. But the aggression of De Kock and Rohit against the two quicks doused their hopes while clearing Mumbai’s way to earn back-to-back titles.

The job, though, wasn’t that easy for batsman Rohit, who went into this game with single-digit scores in his last three games. But just when it mattered, the skipper unleashed his array of shots, almost all of which were quality ones, perhaps sending a message across to those who marked him only for India’s Tests in Australia.

Earlier, Trent Boult (3/30) once again rocked the Capitals’ top order, removing the in-form Stoinis off the very first ball of the game. Pitching on a length, the ball moved just a shade away from Stoinis, who looked completely clueless, and took the edge of his bat.

Shikhar Dhawan, the second highest scorer on the list of top run-getters in this IPL, looked steady at the other end, but the Capitals lost Ajinkya Rahane soon after as Boult struck again in his next over.

For Boult, though, it seemed as if he was continuing from where he had left off against the Capitals in Qualifier 1. He could well have picked up a wicket or two more in the Powerplay, but it was Jayant Yadav — playing in place of Rahul Chahar — who dealt a massive blow by rattling Dhawan’s stumps.

At 22/3 in the fourth over, Delhi looked to be in a deep hole. However, Shreyas and Pant overcame their respective lean patches to give the Capitals’ total some sort of respectability.

Shreyas tried to be the aggressor during their fourth-wicket stand, while Pant focused more on rotating the strike initially. The ’keeper-batsman, however, changed gears when he smashed Krunal Pandya for a couple of sixes in the 10th over.

Pant’s knock may not have been match-winning, but nevertheless augurs well for him.

Post Pant’s dismissal, Capitals could manage just 38 off the last five overs of their innings.

Although wicketless, Jasprit Bumrah (0/28 off four overs) was economical.

Almost everything worked for Mumbai on the final day. Not so for Delhi.