Riding on Australian cricketer Shane Watson’s exceptional unbeaten 117-run knock, Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings thrashed SunRisers Hyderabad by eight wickets to clinch its third Indian Premier League title at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai 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.
Earlier, after winning the toss, MS Dhoni invited Kane Williamson’s side to bat first. With the help of Yusuf Pathan’s unbeaten 45 runs off 25 balls along with skipper Kane Williamson’s 47, SunRisers Hyderabad posted a competitive 178/6 against Chennai Super Kings.
In a batting-friendly track at the Wankhede stadium here, Yusuf, who came when the scoreboard read 101/3, played a good knock to propel Hyderabad to a good total in their 20 overs.
The Baroda batsman’s unbeaten innings contained four boundaries and a couple of hits into the stands.
Put to bat, Hyderabad started their proceedings on a bad note as opener Shreevats Goswami (5) gifted his wicket in the second over with just 13 runs on the board.
Trying to convert a single, Goswami fell short of the crease when a throw from long leg by Karn Sharma was easily picked by Dhoni, and Hyderabad got its first jolt.
Opener Shikhar Dhawan was then joined by Williamson and the duo stabilised Hyderabad’s innings putting on a 51-run partnership for the second wicket.
Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja broke the partnership in the ninth over as he clean-bowled Dhawan on 26 runs.
Shakib Al Hasan then took Hyderabad’s innings forward with his skipper as the side crossed the 100-run mark in 11.5 overs. However, in a desperate attempt, Williamson came down the wicket trying to play big, but the ball drifted away and then Dhoni did the rest behind the stumps.
The Hyderabad skipper’s knock came off 36 balls, decorated with five boundaries and two sixes.
Williamson’s fall bought Yusuf in the middle and the right-hander made clear his intentions from the very beginning, smashing a boundary in the second ball he faced.
But when things seemed good in the middle, Bravo packed back Shakib (23 off 15) in the 16th over, leaving Hyderabad at 133/4.
Incoming batsman Deepak Hooda (3) fell cheaply in the 17th over which saw Carlos Brathwaite joining Yusuf.
The Baroda batsman then accumulated 34 runs for Hyderabad with Brathwaite in the remaining 18 deliveries to help their side reach a competitive total in the mega final.
Brathwaite, who fell in the final delivery of Hyderabad’s innings, chipped in with a valuable 21 runs off 11 balls.
For Chennai, Lungi Ngidi, Shardul Thakur, Karn Sharma, Dwayne Bravo and Jadeja bagged one wicket each.
Fall of wickets:
Hyderabad: 13-1 (Shreevats Goswami, 1.5), 64-2 (Shikhar Dhawan, 8.3), 101-3 (Kane Williamson, 12.1), 133-4 (Shakib Al Hasan, 15.5), 144-5 (Deepak Hooda, 16.6), 178-6 (Carlos Brathwaite, 19.6)
Chennai: 16-1 (Faf du Plessis, 3.6), 133-2 (Suresh Raina, 13.3)
Chennai Super Kings Playing XI: Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Karn Sharma, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Lungi Ngidi.
Sunrisers Hyderabad Playing XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Shreevats Goswami (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Shakib Al Hasan, Deepak Hooda, Yusuf Pathan, Carlos Brathwaite, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma
-With IANS inputs.