MUMBAI: Shane Watson notched up a brilliant century as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by eight wickets in the final to lift the Indian Premier League (IPL) title here at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
Chasing 179 for victory, seasoned Australian opener Watson smashed an unbeaten 57-ball 117, his fourth IPL hundred, as MS Dhoni's team bagged their third crown after returning to the fold following a two-year suspension.
Chennai piled up 181/2 in 18.3 overs against Sunrisers' 178/6 in 20 overs, riding on skipper Kane Williamson's 36-ball 47 and Yusuf Pathan's 21 off 11 balls.
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Teams:
CSK XI: Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni( capt & wk), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Lungi Ngidi
SRH XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Shreevats Goswami(wK), Kane Williamson(capt.), Shakib Al Hasan, Deepak Hooda, Yusuf Pathan, Carlos Brathwaite, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma.
From being labelled "Old men's army" to third IPL title... Full credits to Thala Dhoni and his boys. What a way to make a comeback to the tournament>
Scores level!
Yellow Army a sixer away from ultimate triumph...
11 runs between Chennai Super Kings and IPL 2018 !
HUNDRED! Shane Watson scores second century of the season! Brilliant innings under pressure by the Aussie
Watson back on strike, could this be the delivery !
A good over from Rashid Khan to give his side some relief, Only one run of it. CSK 146/2 after 15.
Williamson brings Carlos Brathwaite into the attack. Can he make a difference ?
Sandeep Sharma hammered for three sixes in a row by Watson! CSK 131/1 after 12 overs.
Another six by Shane Watson! He moves to 70 off 42 deliveries.
FIFTY! Shane Watson plays a maximum of Shakib Al Hasan to reach the fist half-century of IPL 2018 final.
Siddarth Kaul keeps leaking runs as the batsmen 10 runs off his second over already with 2 balls left.
Both Rashid Khan and Siddarth Kaul have bagged 21 wickets so far in the tournament, only three less that current Purple cap holder Andrew Tye of KXI Punjab.
Good start for Rashid Khan; Raina, Watson manages only four runs of his over. CSK 56/1 after 8 overs.
Shane Watson punishes Kaul for 16 runs off his first over to bring CSK back to top gear.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Sandeep Sharma keep CSK quiet for the first six overs.
CSK 35/1 after 6 overs.
Suresh Raina is the new batsman in.
Shane Watson and Faf Du Plesis give CSK the flying start they want
SRH reach 178/6 at 20 overs.
WICKET! Brathwaite caught by Ambati Rayidu of the last ball of the innings.
Yusuf Pathan sets a new personal best of the season - 45* of 25 deliveries. A valuable knock under pressure.
Another six from Brathwaite! SRH at 178/5 with one ball left to play.
Another expensive spell by Bravo as he goes of 46 of his 4 overs at an Econ Rate of 11.5.
Carlos Brathwaite walks into the crease.
WICKET! Lungi Ngidi dimisses Deepak Hooda for just 3 runs. SRH at 144/5 at 17 overs.
WICKET! MS Dhoni stumps the in-form SRH skipper of a Karn Sharma delivery. Williamson departs for a well played 47 of 36 balls.
SRH 101/3 in 12.2 Overs.
Four of CSK's playing eleven today features in the season's Top 10 list for 'Most Maiden Overs'- namely Lungi Ngidi, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur and Dwayne Bravo. One tough bowling line-up to deal with!
Shakib Al Hasan joins his captain in the crease.
Williamson smashes DJ Bravo for the second six of his innings! SRH 62-1 after 8 overs.
Shikhar Dhawan brings up SRH's fifty with a four! SRH 50-1 in 6.5 overs.