On their return to IPL after 2 years, Chennai Super Kings defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by 8 wickets in the finals played at Wankedhe Stadium, Mumbai just finished on 27th May 2018 night. CSK captain MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to field. Good knocks by Kane Williamson, Yusuf Pathan, Carlos Braithwaite, Shakib AL Hasan took SRH to a competitive total. While chasing it was an amazing performance by the CSK batsmen to win their 3rd IPL title.
Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to field first. Sunrisers Hyderabad got off to a worse start losing the wicket of Sreevats Goswami for 5 runs who replaced Wriddhiman Saha in today’s match. Shikhar Dhawan and SRH captain Kane Williamson steadied the innings with good stroke play. At the end of 6 overs, SRH scored 42 for 1.
After the power play overs, both SRH batsmen continued to steady the innings. Ravindra Jadeja broke 51 runs stand to dismiss Shikhar Dhawan for 26 runs. Kane Williamson and Shakib AL Hasan attacked the Chennai Super Kings bowlers adding 37 runs for the 3rd wicket. Kane Williamson was dismissed for 47.
Yusuf Pathan came to the crease and played some wonderful strokes. Shakib Al Hasan and Yusuf Pathan added 32 runs for a 4th wicket. Shakib AL Hasan was dismissed for 23 off 15 balls by Dwayne Bravo. Deepak Hooda failed to contribute any runs scoring just 3 runs.
Yusuf Pathan and Carlos Braithwaite added 34 quick-fire runs. Carlos Braithwaite was dismissed off the last ball of the innings for quick fire 21. Yusuf Pathan played an important knock remaining not out on 45 off 25 balls. Sunrisers Hyderabad posted 178 for 6 in 20 overs. For CSK, Lungi Ngidi, Shardul Thakur, Karn Sharma, Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja picked 1 wicket each.
Chasing 179, Chennai Super Kings openers Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis got off to a slow start due to the good bowling of Sunrisers Hyderabad opening bowlers of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Sandeep Sharma. Shane Watson got his first run after 11 balls. Sandeep Sharma got the wicket of Faf du Plessis for 10 runs. Both the openers added just 16 runs in 4 overs.
Shane Watson and Suresh Raina then increased the pace of scoring by attacking the Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers. At the end of 6 overs, Chennai Super Kings scored just 35 for 1. After the power play overs, Shane Watson looked in attacking mood smashing the Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers. The Australian all-rounder reached his half-century off 33 balls and then continued to attack SRH bowling line up.
Suresh Raina also hit some lovely strokes and was dismissed by Carlos Braithwaite for 32. Both Watson and Raina added 117 runs for the 2nd wicket. Watson reached his 2nd century of this IPL season off 51 balls and remained not out on 117 off 57 balls. Chennai Super Kings won the match by 8 wickets with 9 balls to spare. None of SRH bowlers was able to put pressure on CSK batting line up. Rashid Khan was not able to pick any wickets today.
With this win, MS Dhoni equalled the record of Rohit Sharma winning 3 IPL titles.
CSK 181 for 2 in 18.3 overs ( Shane Watson 117*, Suresh Raina 32, Carlos Braithwaite 1/27) beat
SRH 178 for 6 in 20 overs ( Kane Williamson 47, Yusuf Pathan 45*, Lungi Ngidi 1/26) by 8 wickets.
SRH captain Kane Williamson said: In the first 5-6 overs and most of the game we were doing okay. I thought it 179 was a competitive total to defend. Credit should be given with way CSK played. Shane Watson was outstanding today. It was a collective team effort to create a strong atmosphere in the dressing room. Given a chance to captain franchise was great and hope to continue performance next season.
CSK captain MS Dhoni said: Very happy to win the title after 2 years coming back. In today’s match, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was outstanding while Rashid Khan also did a decent job. Our job was not to give wickets and create pressure on other bowlers. Rayudu has been main batters in the tournament. With the way we played in this tournament, it is more important about fitness. Every win in this tournament was special. No plans to celebrate and will go to Chennai to thanks the crowds.
Man of the match Shane Watson said: It has been a special season this year. In a big game like the finals, things fell nicely for me. After the first 10 balls, I wanted to attack the bowlers and get to run a ball. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was outstanding in the first 6 overs, so we had to see him out. Once the ball stopped swinging, the batting became easier.
In the awards ceremony yesterday night,
Eden Garden’s, Kolkata received the best IPL ground of season. PCA Stadium, Mohali was awarded the best ground for hosting 7 or fewer games.
Rishabh Pant was awarded as the emerging player.
Mumbai Indians won the fair play award
Trent Boult won the best catch of the season to dismiss Virat Kohli
Sunil Narine won the award for best season’s strike rate.
Pant was awarded the stylish player of the tournament.
MS Dhoni won the award for most innovative thinking
Andrew Tye won the Purple cap for most wickets taken with 24
Kane Williamson won the Orange Cap with most runs (735)