Chennai Super Kings fell agonizingly close in the final against Mumbai Indians. The Men in Yellow lost the match by the narrowest possible margin of one run. One man who carried the hopes of the team on his shoulders single-handedly was Shane Watson.
The Australian didn’t have a great run in the IPL until the first Qualifier. But MS Dhoni kept faith in him and trusted him to come good. He scored a half-century in the second Qualifier against Delhi Capitals that helped CSK chase down the target.
In the final, Mumbai batted first and scored 149. It was a mediocre total but a tricky one. MI kept removing batsmen from one end but Shane Watson stood firm at the other. The 3 dropped catches helped his cause but the batsman took full advantage of that.
When the situation got to 62 from the last 5 overs, Watson struck 3 fours in a row to Lasith Malinga in the 16th over that yielded 20 runs. Then, he went after Krunal Pandya who bowled the 18th over. He deposited the spinner for 3 sixes in a row that swung the match completely in Chennai’s favor.
However, Jasprit Bumrah kept it tight and CSK needed 9 runs from the last over. Malinga again had the ball in hand and the first 3 balls went for 4 runs. When 5 runs were needed from 3 balls, Watson hit a widish yorker towards deep backward point. Krunal Pandya had to cover some distance to grab the ball.
In the bid to retain the strike, Watson decided to go for the second run. But Krunal fired in an accurate throw that found Watson well short of his crease despite a desperate dive. His knock of 80 from 59 balls ended there. Malinga kept his nerve and removed Shardul Thakur off the last ball to give MI its 4th IPL title.
Shane Watson played with a bloodied knee
When Watson walked off the field in disappointment after getting out, there were emotions running all over. But little did we know that opener wasn’t at his 100 percent while batting. His teammate Harbhajan Singh has revealed that Watson was batting with a bloodied knee.
The Australian had gotten injured while diving during the knock. The blood stains were visible on the trousers in the knee region. After the match, Watson got 6 stitches. Despite being in such pain, he battled for his franchise.
Now we know why he ran slower than usual when he got run-out. In every shot and every single run, he must have been feeling the pain. Watson had won the title for CSK last year with a magnificent century in the final. It seemed as if he would repeat the heroics in 2019 as well. Even though he couldn’t win the game this time, yet he won the hearts of everyone who watched the game.
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