Shane Watson wins man of the match award in the IPL final

The Australian scored a century as he led the successful run-chase for Chennai Super Kings.

Chennai Super Kings came back in style this season in IPL as they lifted their third consecutive IPL title. Shane Watson scored a century, as the formerly ridiculed “senior citizens” of the IPL proved that a bit of experience never goes waste.

The MS Dhoni-led CSK won their third IPL title since the tournament’s inception in 2008. This was their seventh final.

Shane Watson was adjudged the man of the match for his terrific century. Interestingly, he couldn’t score a run in his first 10 balls. He scored his hundred in 50 balls, and led the CSK side to victory.

Also read: Twitter goes crazy as CSK beat SRH to lift IPL title

“It’s just been a special season. To get an opportunity after my previous year, was incredible. Things fell my way nicely tonight, but to be able to do it in such a big game… it’s very special,” Shane Watson said.

Watson scored 27 runs in a potentially match-turning over off Sandeep Sharma. The over changed the course of the game as CSK eased past the Sunrisers.

He talked about his struggles at not scoring a run in the first ten balls. “After those first ten balls, I was hoping to catch up. Wanted to get run-a-ball before getting out. Bhuvi was excellent so we had to see the first six overs without any damage.”

He emphasised that batting became easier once the ball stopped swinging. “Once the ball stopped swinging, it got easier. The good thing is I don’t have to play for a few months, so have some time to recover.”

In the end of this post-match interview, he thanked Dhoni for his support throughout the IPL campaign.

“Throughout the back end of the tournament I was hanging on for dear life, Stephen Fleming and MS Dhoni have been looking after me really well and I am really glad to contribute like I did tonight.” Watson concluded