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Chennai's Shane Watson celebrates after scoring a century during the IPL final against Hyderabad in Mumbai. Image Credit: AFP

Dubai: Shane Watson cracked a stupendous century and along with Suresh Raina whipped the Sunrisers Hyderabad attack to record an emphatic eight wicket win and help Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni lift the Indian Premier League Cup (IPL) for a third time. 

Only Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma had lifted this Cup thrice before in the 11-year-old history of the IPL. 

Chennai Super Kings players jubilate as they celebrate their win. PTI

Watson’s second ton of this season came after a slow start and he went on to remain unbeaten on 117 runs off 57 balls with 11 boundaries and eight sixes. Partnering Raina, Watson put on 117 runs off 9.3 overs for the second wicket.

Raina scored 32 off 24 balls with three boundaries and a six. 

Earlier, Sunrisers, put in to bat, posted 178 for 6 riding on their skipper Kane Williamson’s 47 off 36 balls with five boundaries and two sixes and Yusuf Pathan’s  unbeaten 45 off 25 balls with four boundaries and two sixes.  

Chennai Super Kings' Shane Watson plays a shot. AFP

Chasing the total, Chennai got off to a slow start with Watson taking 11 balls to pick his first run. The pressure set by Watson resulted in his partner Faf Du Plessis going for a big shot but landed up being caught bowled by Sandeep Sharma for 10.

In the first five overs, Chennai could get only 20 runs. Watson started off by hitting  Sharma for a six in the sixth over.  He also hit Siddarth Kaul for a six over square leg. Raina who joined Watson too  began to stroke fluently. 

Watson and Raina punished Kaul for 17 runs in one over and took 16 runs in another over from him. The played Hyderabad’s strike bowler and second qualifier hero Rashid Khan cautiously.

In the last ten overs, Chennai needed 99 runs and Watson raced to his half century in 33 balls. Though Raina fell in the 14th over caught behind off  Carlos Brathwaite,  Watson and  Ambati Rayudi steered Chennai safely to the target with nine balls to spare. 

Chennai's Suresh Raina plays a shot during the final. AFP

Hyderabad innings commenced with Shreewats Goswami  opening the innings with Shikhar Dhawan. Goswami fell in the second over for five runs while going for a second run which wasn’t there. Karn Sharma, running in from long leg, produced an excellent throw.

Skipper Williamson joined Dhawan and pulled Deepak Chahar to the square leg boundary. He crossed 700 runs in an IPL season through the shot and thus joined the David Warner, Chris Gayle, Michael Hussey and Virat Kohli who had earned the same distinction before.  Like Williamson, who hit the first six off the match off Chahar, Dhawan too followed by hitting Shardul Thakur over long on. 

Leg spinner Karn Sharma, who came in place of the experienced Harbhajan Singh, was introduced in the seventh over.  Except for Dhawan who slog swept him for a boundary, it was a good tight over.

Dwayne Bravo bowled the first four balls of the eighth over tightly but Williamson hit him over cover for a boundary and a six over short fine leg off the last two balls. 

Ravindra Jadeja finally gave the breakthrough in the ninth over by having Dhawan clean bowled for 26.  Going for a sweep, Dhawan misjudged the ball.
Nextman Shakib Al Hasan hit the first ball he faced for a boundary through a cut shot. At the half way mark, Hyderabad were 73 for 2.

The 11th over saw Shakib hit a massive six and also pick another boundary to long on of Jadeja. Williamson too got a boundary and Hyderabad took 17 runs off that over. When some supporters in the crowd waved a banner “Kane you can”, Williamson hit Bravo for two successive boundaries. For the first boundary he brilliantly picked the gap between deep point and extra cover and for the second boundary he pulled through mid-wicket region. 

As soon as Hyderabad crossed the 100 run mark, Sharma produced a beauty to have Williamson stumped by wicketkeeper Dhoni 47. Stepping out Williamson missed the ball that drifted away.  His knock came off 36 balls and contained five boundaries and two sixes.

Pathan joined Shakib and picked his first boundary steering Sharma past slip. He also got another by hitting Thakur past point.  In the 15th over Pathan hit Sharma for a six over extra cover but could get only another three more runs in the over. The need for some quick runs became evident.

Pathan picked a boundary off Barvo’s first ball in the 16th over but Shakib fell to the fifth ball of that over for 23 runs caught by Raina in the cover. From that over Hyderabad could get just eight runs.

Ngidi who was introduced for the 17th over, Pathan hit him with enormous power over long for a six. Ngidi got the wicket of Deepak Hooda and he took gave only nine runs.

Carlos Brathwaite hit Bravo over long off for a six into the crowd to steer Hyderabad past the 150 run mark.  Pathan and Brathwaite (21) put on 34 runs in the last three overs.

Brief scores:

Chennai Super Kings bt Sunrisers Hyderabad by 8 wkts 
Sunrisers Hyderabad  178 for 6 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 26, Kane Williamson 47, Shakib Al Hasan 23, Yusuf Pathan 45n.o, Carlos Brathwaite 21) 
Chennai Super Kings 181 for 2 in 18.3 overs  (Shane Watson 117n.o, Suresh Raina 32). 
 


As it happened:


Chennai Super Kings win by 8 wickets

Watson hits century

Raina's wicket falls

Chennai past 100

Here comes the fifty for Shane Watson

Watson, Raina partnership progressing well

Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowls well

First wicket: Chennai's du Plessis departs

Chennai innings begin

Innings break: Hyderabad post a total of 178/6

Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Kane Williamson and Yusuf Pathan posted a challenging 178 for 6 against Chennai Super Kings in the final of the Indian Premier League at the at the Wankhede Stadium.

After Williamson cracked 47 off 36 balls with five boundaries and two sixes, while Yusuf Pathan remained unbeaten on 45 off 25 balls with four boundaries and two sixes.  

Chennai Super Kings won the toss but elected to field knowing that  Wankhede stadium have favoured teams that had chased the score. Interestingly, Hyderabad has the reputation of having defended their scores and Chennai have been brilliant in chasing targets.  

Shreewats Goswami  and Shikhar Dhawan opened the innings but Goswami fell in the second over for five runs while going for a second run which wasn’t there. Karn Sharma, running in from long leg, produced an excellent throw.

Skipper Kane Williamson joined Dhawan and pulled Deepak Chahar to the square leg boundary. He crossed 700 runs in an IPL season through the shot and thus joined the David Warner, Chris Gayle, Michael Hussey and Virat Kohli who had earned the same distinction before. Like Williamson, who hit the first six off the match off Chahar, Dhawan too followed by hitting Shardul Thakur over long on. 

Leg spinner Karn Sharma, who came in place of the experienced Harbhajan Singh, was introduced in the seventh over. Except for Dhawan who slog swept him for a boundary, it was a good tight over.

Dwayne Bravo bowled the first four balls of the eighth over tightly but Williamson hit him over cover for a boundary and a six over short fine leg off the last two balls. 

Ravindra Jadeja finally gave the breakthrough in the ninth over by having Dhawan clean bowled for 26. Going for a sweep, Dhawan misjudged the ball.
Nextman Shakib Al Hasan hit the first ball he faced for a boundary through a cut shot. At the half way mark, Hyderabad were 73 for 2.

The 11th over saw Shakib hit a massive six and also pick another boundary to long on of Jadeja. Williamson too got a boundary and Hyderabad took 17 runs off that over. When some supporters in the crowd waved a banner “Kane you can”, Williamson hit Bravo for two successive boundaries. For the first boundary he brilliantly picked the gap between deep point and extra cover and for the second boundary he pulled through mid-wicket region. 

As soon as Hyderabad crossed the 100 run mark, Sharma produced a beauty to have Williamson stumped by wicketkeeper Dhoni 47. Stepping out Williamson missed the ball that drifted away.  His knock came off 36 balls and contained five boundaries and two sixes.

Yusuf Pathan joined Shakib and picked his first boundary steering Sharma past slip. He also got another by hitting Thakur past point.  In the 15th over Pathan hit Sharma for a six over extra cover but could get only another three more runs in the over. The need for some quick runs became evident.

Pathan picked a boundary off Barvo’s first ball in the 16th over but Shakib fell to the fifth ball of that over for 23 runs caught by Raina in the cover. From that over Hyderabad could get just eight runs.

Ngidi who was introduced for the 17th over, Pathan hit him with enormous power over long for a six. Ngidi got the wicket of Deepak Hooda and he took gave only nine runs.

Carlos Brathwaite hit Bravo over long off for a six into the crowd to steer Hyderabad past the 150 run mark.  Pathan and Brathwaite (21) put on 34 runs in the last three overs.

Brief scores:
Sunrisers Hyderabad  178 for 6 in 20 overs. (Shikhar Dhawan 26, Kane Williamson 47, Shakib Al Hasan 23,  Yusuf Pathan 45n.o, Carlos Brathwaite 21) 

 

Score at the end of over 19

Fourth wicket falls

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Third wicket

Second wicket

Watch: Celebs at the IPL final

 

Hyderabad reaches 50

First wicket

Chennai win toss; elect to field

Chennai Super Kings won the toss but elected to field as the Wankhede stadium have favoured teams that had chased the score. 

Interestingly, Hyderabad has the reputation of having defended very well their scores and Chennai have been brilliant while chasing. 

Chennai dropped Harbhajan Singh for Karn Sharma.  Shreewats Goswami  and Shikhar Dhawan have opened the innings for Hyderabad.

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Chennai players celebrate after winning the 2018 Indian Premier League finals against Hyderabad. Image Credit: AFP
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Chennai's Shane Watson plays a shot during the IPL final against Hyderabad at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai Image Credit: AFP
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Chennai's Suresh Raina plays a shot during the IPL final against Hyderabad at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai. Image Credit: AFP
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Hyderabad players celebrates the wicket of Faf du Plessis of the Chennai during the IPL final in Mumbai Image Credit: IPL
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Chennai's Ravindra Jadeja celebrates the wicket of Hyderabad's Shikhar Dhawan with Suresh Raina Image Credit: PTI
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Hyderabad's Kane Williamson plays a shot during the IPL final between Chennai and Hyderabad in Mumbai Image Credit: AFP
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MS Dhoni of the Chennai runout Shreevats Goswami of the Hyderabad during the final of the IPL 2018 Image Credit: IPL
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Kane Williamson of Hyderabad plays a shot during the final of IPL 2018 between Chennai and Hyderabad. Image Credit: IPL
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MS Dhoni of Chennai and Kane Williamson of Hyderabad at the toss during the final of IPL 2018. Image Credit: IPL
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