Chennai Super Kings lifted their third IPL trophy, beating Sunrisers Hyderabad by 8 wickets.
The MS Dhoni-led CSK made an emphatic comeback to IPL, as they won the IPL after beating Sunrisers Hyderabad. Shane Watson scored a century as CSK chased 179 with 9 balls remaining in the match. Earlier, CSK won the toss and chose to bowl first.
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A fiery innings from Yusuf Pathan (45 off 25 balls) took SRH to a formidable score of 178. Kane Williamson top-scored with 47 runs and stabilised the Sunrisers’ innings after a shaky start. For CSK, it was a combined bowling effort as Deepak Chahar tightened the proceedings, bowling at an economy rate of 6.85. Every other bowler took a wicket each and prevented the Sunrisers from building a strong partnership in the middle.
CSK had a slow start. Shane Watson couldn’t score a run in the first ten balls as he was facing difficulties on Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s lengths. However, after the wicket of Faf du Plessis, Watson inflicted mayhem upon the Sunrisers as he scored his next 117 runs in merely 47 deliveries.
The Aussie star smacked 27 runs in the 16th over of the game off Sandeep Sharma, which turned out to be the game-changing moment of the game. Watson completed his hundred in fifty balls and was well complimented by Suresh Raina at the other hand.
The left-handed Indian batsman scored 32 off 24 balls, before walking off the pitch after edging the ball towards the keeper. Ambati Rayudu hit the winning runs for CSK as the team lifted their third IPL title.
Suresh Raina’s tweet
After the final, many CSK players took to Twitter to express their joy and thank the fans for their support throughout the season. Suresh Raina was no different as he posted a series of tweets after the win.
In his first tweet, he thanked the supporters, while applauding Watson for his century. He also showed his admiration for MS Dhoni’s captaincy.
Cannot express my feelings! It’s been a wonderful season for us & a fitting finish by @ShaneRWatson33. A well constructed innings from him today & inspiring captaincy from @msdhoni right from game one takes us to our 3rd title.A big thank you to all our supporters🙏#WhistlePodu pic.twitter.com/lZfWqUWi9j
— Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) May 27, 2018
He then thanked the coaching and backroom staff. “From guiding us to taking care of us at each and every stage of this hectic tournament. A big thank you to all of them,” Raina tweeted.
Men behind the scene!! From guiding us to taking care us of at each and every stage of this hectic tournament. A big thank you to all of them. @ChennaiIPL pic.twitter.com/gC30shS0yi
— Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) May 27, 2018
Raina also posted pictures of him with fellow cricketers, including the IPL Emerging player of the year Rishabh Pant, and former cricketer Mohammad Kaif. The tweet also included Raina with his wife and daughter Gracia, with the caption “#familytime.”
Kudos to winning the IPL 2018 final …CSK roars #familytime pic.twitter.com/yNX1fpRW4O
— Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) May 27, 2018
The CSK star’s final tweet won the hearts of the CSK’s supporters, as he and his family posed with the IPL trophy.
— Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) May 28, 2018