Mumbai: A re-run of the first Qualifier, CSK and SRH locked horns again but this time for the IPL glory. Shane Watson stood out from the rest and helped CSK to be crowned Champions.
Kane Williamson (47) and Yusuf Pathan (45*) helped SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) post a fighting total of 178/6 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) final at the Wankhede Stadium.
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After winning the toss Chennai captain MS Dhoni put SRH to bat first. SRH openers Shikhar Dhawan and Shreevats Goswami were off to a steady start. Goswami was run out after a horrible mix up in only the 2nd over and was dismissed for 5 runs.
Dhawan looked in fine touch but a superb delivery by Ravindra Jadeja confused the opener and he was clean bowled by him in the 9th over. Williamson continued to attack the bowlers after settling in. He hits 5 fours and 2 sixes to give SRH some control of the game and had a decent partnership with Shakib Al Hasan (23) in the middle overs.
He was eventually dismissed for 47 runs in the 13th over. Pathan played some ferocious shots laced with 4 fours and 2 sixes as he remained unbeaten on 45 runs off 25 balls.
Carlos Brathwaite scored a quickfire 11-ball 21 runs, in the end, to help his team reach 178. Lungi Ngidi yet again starred with the ball for Chennai returning with figures of 1/26 in his four overs.
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CSK openers Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis had a shaky beginning with du Plessis departing early scoring only 10 runs. Suresh Raina comes in and stood his ground to support Watson.
CSK powerplay yielded 35 runs after the initial scare. Watson scored an aggressive 50 from 33 balls, targetting the SRH bowlers, one after the other. Raina supported him well with a quick 32 off 24 balls.
By the time Raina got out, it was all over for SRH with Watson completing his century, the second only century in an IPL final. Ambati Rayudu (16 off 19) provided support to Watson, who smashed his way to winning it for CSK. Watson scored a fiery 117 from 57 balls.