After 59 matches, it all boiled down to the last game in the IPL 2018. Fittingly, the two best sides of the tournament – Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, were up against each other in the IPL 2018 final at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. CSK had the better of SRH in all the previous 3 meetings this year including the first Qualifier.
SRH had reached the final by defeating Kolkata Knight Riders in the second Qualifier. But the MS Dhoni-led troop once again ended up on the winning side. The side that was mocked for having players aging above 30, answered all the critics and lifted the title for the 3rd time. They equaled Mumbai Indians in terms of most IPL titles and stamped their reputation as the most consistent side ever.
It is said that well begun is half done and MS Dhoni had the luck by his side when he won the crucial toss of IPL 2018 final. SRH were asked to bat first and they suffered an early blow when Shreevats Goswami departed for just 5. Their dependable duo of Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson added 51 runs for the 2nd wicket before the former was castled by Ravindra Jadeja for 26 in the 9th over.
Williamson was threatening to run away with the game but Karn Sharma sent him back for 47 at a crucial juncture in the 13th over when the score read 101/3. Shakib Al Hasan scored 23 runs but got out to Dwayne Bravo. SRH needed a strong finish to reach a respectable total. Yusuf Pathan’s knock of 45 from 25 balls and Carlos Brathwaite’ cameo of 21 off 11 propelled them to 178/6 from 20 overs.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar began with a wonderful first over and made life difficult for Shane Watson who played out a maiden over. Faf du Plessis couldn’t last long and departed for 10 courtesy Sandeep Sharma. Watson was subdued in his approach initially and SRH kept the score down to 35/1 from 6 overs.
But all of a sudden, the Australian batsman exploded and took the bowling to the cleaners. Suresh Raina just played the supporting hand and witnessed Watson flourishing at the other end. The partnership for the 2nd wicket added 117 runs before Raina got out for 32 in the 14th over but the score had raced off to 133/2.
Watson didn’t lift the foot off the paddle and went on to notch up his second century of the season. His unbeaten 117 off 57 balls included 11 fours and 8 sixes. The finishing touch came from Ambati Rayudu as a cover drive sealed the match for CSK in the 19th over as they won by 8 wickets with 9 balls in hand.
Match Summary
In the IPL 2018 final Chennai Super Kings won the toss and opted to bowl first
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 178/6 in 20 overs
Kane Williamson 47 (36), Yusuf Pathan 45* (25)
Karn Sharma 25/1 (3), Lungi Ngidi 26/1 (4)
Chennai Super Kings: 181/2 in 18.3 overs
Shane Watson 117* (57), Suresh Raina 32 (24)
Carlos Brathwaite 27/1 (2.3), Sandeep Sharma 52/1 (4)
Chennai Super Kings won by 8 wickets
Player of the Match: Shane Watson
Here’s how Twitter reacted to IPL 2018 final , CSK becoming the champions again
Having not played for 2 years, @ChennaiIPL do it in style. New heroes in every victory and prove again that no substitute for experience. Champion team and a massive victory #IPL2018Final
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) May 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/RanveerOfficial/status/1000787539668717568
https://twitter.com/SirJadejaaaa/status/1000787555846049792
https://twitter.com/sthalekar93/status/1000788162514370560
Shows MS Dhoni could have easily carried on as Indian limited-overs skipper. That he gave it up shows his reading of the dressing room. Still incomparable as a keeper, and turned time back this season with his batting… you cannot write this man off! #IPL2018Final
— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) May 27, 2018
Give Watson ten dot balls at the start of every innings then……
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 27, 2018
Former champions really played like champions throughout the season. Congratulations @ChennaiIPL and @msdhoni for yet another IPL trophy. Surely the best T20 team in the world! #CSKvSRH #IPL2018Final
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) May 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/RanveerOfficial/status/1000780659852500992
https://twitter.com/ICC/status/1000784957227364352
Congratulations Chennai Superkings on becoming deserving champions of the biggest T20 tournament in the world. Brilliant throughout the tournament and the wonderful people from Chennai and whole of TN deserve this @ChennaiIPL . #IPL2018Final
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) May 27, 2018
Players scoring a hundred in a chase in T20 tournament finals:
Suresh Raina (109*) CSK v KKR 2014 (CLT20)
Shane Watson (100*) CSK v SRH 2018 (IPL)#CSKvSRH #SRHvCSK #IPL2018Final #IPL2018— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) May 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/DanishSait/status/1000786998246785029
Shane Watson……. Doesn’t matter how Old you are……… #IPL2018Final
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) May 27, 2018
2008 IPL – shane watson, man of the series
2018 IPL- shane watson, man of the final#CSKvSRH #IPL2018Final— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) May 27, 2018
Tour de force performance by #CSK. I thought Sunrisers bowlers would put them under pressure, but fuelled by Watson's bionic hitting, target achieved with a lot to spare.
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) May 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/hemangkbadani/status/1000789380653445120
Super Coach … Super Captain … Winning a Super Tournament … #IPL2018Final
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) May 27, 2018
What a great knock to finish off the IPL @ShaneRWatson33 . Congratulations @ChennaiIPL well deserved win !#IPL2018Final
— Jasprit Bumrah (@Jaspritbumrah93) May 27, 2018
Seventh T20 tournament win for MS Dhoni….
IPL- 3
CLT20- 2
World T20- 1
Asia Cup T20-1No other captain has won more than 5 tournaments! #CSKvSRH #SRHvCSK #IPL2018Final #IPL2018 #IPL
— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) May 27, 2018
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