Chennai Super Kings 181 for 2 in 18.3 overs (Watson 117*) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 178 for 6 (Williamson 47) by eight wickets

play 5:25 Agarkar: Don't think SRH could have done much to stop Watson CSK won their 3rd IPL title by beating SRH by 8 wickets in the IPL 2018 final

Finally, the IPL trophy has come back to its spiritual home, Chennai. The city's franchise did run into rough waters but it still boasts the best IPL crowds and the most consistent team, which won its third title with a chase that was as much perfection as it was a tribute to their captain MS Dhoni's philosophies.

Ridiculed as dad's army for picking players a little long in the tooth, Super Kings won the final on a century from the 36-year-old Shane Watson, all but hobbling through for most of his run runs after having taken 11 balls to get off the mark. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan, champion bowlers both, went for 17 and 24 in their allotment of four overs each, but that brought no panic to Super Kings' ranks. It was crucial that these two were not given a wicket; a maiden rather than a wicket. Ruthlessly, meanwhile, Watson targeted the young bowlers from Punjab, Siddarth Kaul and Sandeep Sharma, who went for 95 in their seven overs.

If the chase was perfection, Super Kings were asked to dig into their defensive reserves when they bowled first. Sunrisers batted a little like Super Kings: take it slow at the start, keep wickets in hand, put pressure on the bowlers and go big at the death. Lungi Ngidi and Shardul Thakur, though, bowled well to restrict them to just 52 runs in the last five overs.

It was the fourth time CSK had beaten Sunrisers in four meetings this season, an emphatic record against the team that had finished top of the league stage.

Shane Watson scored a 57-ball 117 BCCI

Slow start

Super Kings began with a beamer followed by a free hit, but they soon pulled things back. This was a stretch of play where both sides were waiting to see who blinks first. After having lost wickets early in the first qualifier against the same opposition, Sunrisers didn't try anything adventurous against Deepak Chahar and Ngidi, scoring 42 for 1 in the Powerplay.

Dhawan, Williamson look to tee off but...

Having gone at about a run a ball inside the Powerplay, Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson had to become more urgent at some point. Williamson began doing that with Dwayne Bravo, introduced early again because he has not been at his best at the death. For Dhawan the opportunity presented itself when Ravindra Jadeja came on to bowl, turning the ball back into him. As expected he went down for the big slog sweep, but he missed and the ball hit the thigh pad to deviate onto his stumps. Sunrisers 64 for 2 in the ninth.

Runs and wickets keep coming

On the big final day, though, Sunrisers' middle order kept bringing the runs. Shakib Al Hasan did to Jadeja what Dhawan wanted to do: take four, six and four in his first two overs. Williamson kept tapping Bravo for boundaries. Then again, Dhoni's golden touch worked. Karn Sharma, IPL champion for the last two years with Sunrisers and Mumbai Indians, brought in just for this match, had Williamson stumped off a wide ball.

But, again, yet another batsman hit the ground running. Yusuf Pathan hit two boundaries in the first seven balls he faced, and the innings was back on track. Deepak Hooda fell cheaply but, at 144 for 5, Sunrisers would have backed themselves for a reprise of the destruction they executed at the end of their innings in the 2016 final.

Ngidi, Thakur stifle Sunrisers

The carnage began with 16 coming off the 18th over, bowled by Bravo, who signed off with the second-worst economy rate at death this season. The only man worse than him was Thakur, who would bowl the 20th. Ngidi and Thakur, though, bowled two excellent overs with six deliveries not scored off. Only 18 came off those two overs, and Super Kings had the momentum going into the chase.

CSK played out Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan, while targeting the other bowlers ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Watson plays out Bhuvneshwar

In the last match between these two sides, Bhuvneshwar tortured Watson before taking him out for a five-ball duck. Yet again, Watson took first strike. This time Bhuvneshwar missed the shoulder of his bat twice by inches in a maiden over. If Watson was under pressure, he didn't show it. He would play out four more dots before coolly off-driving a four off Sandeep.

The pressure, though, resulted in Faf du Plessis' wicket. Williamson went against his usual practice of bowling Bhuvneshwar for two overs at the top, one at the death and keeping one for the middle when he needs a wicket. Watson and Suresh Raina showed great awareness of what was happening. If they could play this third over out, they would have to contend with only Rashid in the middle overs. Play out they did, reaching 20 for 1 in five overs.

Carnage

In the sixth over of the chase, the carnage that sealed the win began. Watson got absolutely stuck into Sandeep and Kaul. Sandeep's third over went for 15. Kaul made one mistake in his first over, and Watson was all over him. His over went for 16. At 51 for 1 in seven, the asking rate was back under 10.

Method

Williamson would have ideally wanted to bowl Rashid to two right-hand batsmen, Dhoni preferably one of them, given his struggles against this bowler, but Super Kings just didn't take any risk against him. The next four overs brought: 5, 16, 8, 15. It is easy to tell which of these were bowled by Rashid.

Carnage again

Watson had brought up his fifty by then, but he wasn't done hurting Sandeep yet. This is a time when Williamson usually goes back to Bhuvneshwar but on this night he couldn't. Watson launched three sixes and two fours in the 13th over to practically end the chase there. Only about a run a ball was required now, which Watson and Ambati Rayudu managed without a bother.</s>
• Chennai Super Kings team pose with the IPL trophy after beating Sunrisers Hyderabad by 8 wickets. Sportzpics
• Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Kane Williamson and Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni ahead of the final at Wankhede. Sportzpics
• Sunrisers Hyderabad's Kane Williamson and Shikhar Dhawan run between the wickets. Twitter: @IPL
• Sunrisers Hyderabad's Yusuf Pathan smacks one towards the boundary. Twitter: @IPL
• Sunrisers Hyderabad's spinner Rashid Khan has a brief chat with captain Kane Williamson as his side struggles to pick up a wicket. Sportzpics
• Chennai Super Kings batsman Ambati Rayudu hits the winning runs for his team. Sportzpics
• Chennai Super Kings players and staff run on the pitch to celebrate their win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final. Sportzpics</s>Chennai Super Kings thrash Hyderabad to take third IPL title

MUMBAI: Shane Watson smashed an unbeaten 117 as Chennai Super Kings thrashed Sunrisers Hyderabad to win their third Indian Premier League title in a spectacular return from a two-year corruption ban.

The 36-year-old Australian hit eight sixes and 11 fours in his stunning 57 ball innings as Chennai took just 18.3 overs to overcome Hyderabad´s 178-6 off 20 overs.

Chennai finished on 181-2 to crush their opponents by eight wickets. Ambati Rayudu was also unbeaten at the end on 16 in Mumbai´s Wankhede Stadium which was packed with more than 33,000 people.

Chennai, IPL winners in 2010 and 2011, were banned for two seasons in 2015 along with Rajasthan Royals after team officials were found guilty of involvement in illegal gambling.</s>The 2018 Indian Premier League cricket season concludes Sunday as Sunrisers Hyderabad go for their second title in three years against two-time winners Chennai Super Kings.

The 2018 Indian Premier League T20 cricket tournament concludes on Sunday with the 60th and last match, as the top two teams in this year’s IPL, Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, face off in the Championship Grand Final, which will live stream from Mumbai. The Sunrisers are going for their second title in three years, but Chennai hopes to walk away with their third IPL trophy overall.

For the Super Kings, playing in the IPL final is already a victory of sorts. This year was the franchise’s first back in the world’s richest T20 tournament after a two year suspension over an illegal betting scandal. That means the club led by India legend MS Dhoni will have played nine seasons in the league and made the final in seven of those campaigns.

The two sides finished the 14-match round-robin stage of the IPL with identical 9-5 records, but Sunrisers gained a slight edge on net run rate. But when Chennai and Hyderabad squared off in the first qualifier on May 22, a death overs bowling collapse by the Kane Williamson-captained Hyderabad team, and a sparkling 67 not out from Super Kings South African international Faf du Plessis put Dhoni’s team in the final year again.

To find out how to watch a live stream of the Chennai Super Kings vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad 2018 IPL Grand Final match, see the streaming information at the bottom of this article. The first ball is scheduled to be bowled at 7 p.m. Indian Standard Time at Wankhede Cricket Stadium in Mumbai, India, on Sunday, May 27. In the United Kingdom, that start time will be 2:30 p.m. British Summer Time, while in the United States, the playoff match gets underway at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 6:30 a.m. Pacific.

If Sunrisers are to win their second title in the last three seasons, Williamson will again rely on leg spinner Rashid Khan, who compiled the second-highest wicket total in the round robin stage, with 21. He then played an indispensable role in putting Sunrisers into the final, when he took three wickets while allowing only 19 runs in Friday’s second qualifier, when Williamson’s side dispatched Kolkata Knight Riders by 14 runs.

“Obviously, having the ability to take it away from both (left and right-handed) players on surfaces that offer a little bit of turn is definitely an asset to have,” Williamson told CricBuzz on Saturday. “We are very fortunate to have Rashid Khan in our team. He’s been outstanding throughout the whole campaign and hopefully tomorrow night he can do it all over again.”

Watch a preview of the Chennai Super Kings vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL Championship Final in the video below.

To watch a live stream of the Chennai Super Kings vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad 2018 IPL Grand Final match from Mumbai, India, in the United States, the sole legal source is the U.S. affiliate of India streaming site Hotstar at this link. The service charges a $7.99 per month fee, but also offers a one-month free trial, allowing cricket fans to watch the IPL Final match for free simply by canceling the subscription before the one-month trial period concludes. The U.S. Hotstar service is also available on mobile phones and the Roku set-top streaming box by downloading the Hotstar app.

India’s Hotstar service will also live stream the match in that country. Access the Indian Hotstar streaming site at this link.

The Chennai Super Kings vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL Championship Final match will be broadcast by Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland, which means that to access a live stream, fans in the U.K. and in Ireland require a Sky Sports subscription. Subscribers then need to register for the satellite network’s Sky Go streaming service, which is free, but fans must fill out some basic information at this link to obtain a Sky Go login.

Once registration is complete, Sky Go Sports’ login page can be found at this link. Then, at last, cricket viewers can stream the Super Kings vs. Sunrisers match live from Mumbai. Sky Go is also available on most mobile devices by downloading the Sky Go app. A full list of compatible devices can be found by clicking here.</s>Mumbai: Nerves will play a big role as two title-hungry outfits, Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad look to outdo each other and regain the coveted IPL crown when they square off in what promises to be a humdinger of a summit contest on Sunday.

The winners-take-all T20 final, in front of a capacity crowd at the Wankhede Stadium, will see Chennai Super Kings, who are gunning for their third IPL crown, take on 2016 winners Sunrisers Hyderabad five days after their first playoff game at the same neutral venue.

These two southern rivals met at the bull-ring on 22 May in Qualifier 1 in which the Super Kings, champions in 2010 and 2011, just about managed to ward off their rivals in a low-scoring thriller after looking down in the dumps at one stage during the run-chase.

That victory, by 2 wickets, enabled the Super Kings to enter their seventh final in nine attempts directly, while dumping their Hyderabad rivals to their third successive defeat in head-to-head contests this season.

Sunrisers had to travel to Kolkata to book their final berth after knocking out two-time former champions Kolkata Knight Riders by 14 runs in Qualifier 2 on Friday night.

While the Super Kings were blessed with a four-day break in between their two games, Sunrisers will be hoping that their winning momentum will help overcome the tiredness of travelling to and from Kolkata and playing their third game, which also happens to be the championship-deciding one, in seven days.

Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan, who came up with a sensational 3 for 19 stint on Friday apart from scoring a rapid-fire 34 in ten balls and then taking two catches and effecting a run-out, had troubled the Super Kings with a 2 for 11 burst in the first qualifier.

CSK got out of the jail courtesy the calm and assured innings of 67 not out from South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis who played the game only after Sam Billings was ruled out due to injury.

The Super Kings batting was left floundering at 62 for 6 with Rashid taking out danger men skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo. He nearly had du Plessis too before the latter reviewed a leg before decision successfully and stayed till the end to guide Super Kings home.

The talented leggie, who has been described as the best T20 spinner currently by Sachin Tendulkar, again looms as a huge stumbling block for the Super Kings' strong batting line-up. He will also have back up, from medium pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Siddharth Kaul.

Super Kings will also be wary about the match-turning all-round abilities of Carlos Brathwaite, the hero of the Caribbeans title-winning contest in the 2016 World T20 Championship. The big West Indian shone with the ball at the death against KKR after his blistering innings of 43 not out against CSK at Wankhede.

Sunrisers will, however, need captain Kane Williamson to get back into the sort of stupendous form he exhibited in the league stage, along with India opener Shikhar Dhawan, to improve their title-clinching chances.

Their middle and lower order have not really been firing barring the odd game.

Super Kings had depended a lot on their top order of Shane Watson, Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu in the round-robin stage of the tournament, apart from Dhoni's finishing flourishes.

With du Plessis and Bravo too in the mix, and Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh and Shardul Thakur having the ability to play cameos, the batting looks formidable.

Harbhajan, strangely, was not given a single over when the two teams met in the first playoff game and needs just one wicket to complete 50 IPL wickets at this ground which was his home ground when he played for Mumbai Indians in the first ten seasons.

The Super Kings' bowling attack also has a well-oiled look, giving them a more rounded visage.</s>Mumbai: The 51-day long T20 carnival has finally reached its climax as two-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Sunrisers Hyderabad will face-off in the summit clash of the 11th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Wankhede stadium here on Sunday.

While Chennai, the two-time IPL champions, already made to the final beating Hyderabad by two wickets in the Qualifier 1 of the cash-rich league here on Tuesday, Hyderabad had to go through the second qualifier.

The Kane Williamson-led side overcame Kolkata Knight Riders' challenge by 14 runs at the Eden Gardens on Friday to seal a place in the coveted final.

Both the sides have met each other thrice in the ongoing edition of the league and the Super Kings hold a 3-0 record over their southern neighbours.

In the much awaited final on Sunday, which could also be seen as a southern derby, it will be clash between Hyderabad's bowling and Chennai's batting.

With the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan and Siddarth Kaul, the orange army boasts of a superb bowling attack whereas the yellow brigade is full of star-studded batting line-up comprising Shane Watson, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina and others.

For Chennai, each of the batsman had rose to the occassion whenever their side needed.

The yellow brigade have been on a roll since making their comeback to the IPL fold after serving a two-year-ban, and have rarely lost the momentum this season with the old guards and new sensations firing in unison.

In their final league game at their adopted home ground in Pune on last Sunday, CSK rode on Suresh Raina's gutsy half century to romp home by five wickets.

Later, in the Qualifier 1, a match where most of the Chennai batsmen faultered against Hyderabad, opener Faf du PLessies smashed a match-winning half-century to help Chennai reach their seventh IPL final on Tuesday.

Rayudu, the other opener in Chennai's side, has been the standout performer with 586 runs. Australian Watson has also been in top form, accumulating 438 runs from 13 matches, while Raina, skipper Dhoni and all-rounder Deepak Chahar have been the backbone of CSK's middle order.

In the bowling front, the former two-time champions will bank on young South African lungi Ngidi, who has 6 wickets from 10 games with a decent economy rate of 5.90.

With Shardul Thakur, Chahar and Dwayne Bravo doing their bit on the pace bowling front, CSK will hope for veteran Harbhajan Singh leading the spin attack with left-armer Ravindra Jadeja in the middle overs.

Coming to Hyderabad, the orange army's success mostly bank on their bowling which has a lot of variety and some of the best names in the business.

Afghan spinner Rashid has been brilliant throughout the season bagging 21 wickets from 16 games.

The leggie came up with a sensational figure of 3/19 against Kolkata last night apart from a quick-fire cameo of 34 from just 10 balls.

Rashid had also troubled Chennai in the first qualifier with figures of 2/11.

On the batting front, top scorer of the tournament Williamson has led from the front. The New Zealand skipper, rated as one of the best batters of the current generation, has so far amassed 688 runs in 16 games at an average of 52.92.

Williamson has also led admirably on the field.

Opener Shikhar Dhawan has also been good, amassing 471 runs from 15 games and Hyderabad's opening will mostly rely on him.

The middle-order however, needs to find their touch for one final time in the league as Manish Pandey, Wriddhiman Saha, Shakib Al Hasan and Yusuf Pathan have failed to live up to the expectations.

It will also be interesting to see whether Yusuf gets a chance in the playing XI in the mega final as the Baroda right hander has failed miserably in the present season, with just 215 runs from 15 games.

Overall, it could be another edge-of-the-seat match on a Super Sunday for fans when the two best teams of this year's league square-off for one final time.

Stay updated on the go with Sify Live Scores App. Click here to download it for your device</s>Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings lifted their third Indian Premier League (IPL) title, thrashing Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight wickets in the summit clash at the jam-packed Wankhede stadium in Mumbai. Making a comeback after serving two years of a ban, Chennai Super Kings stood up to their reputation of being one of the best team in the cash-rich league. After the victory, Dhoni's men celebrated their title win in style.

CSK, who returned to IPL after two years, gave their fans a memorable gift by clinching the title on Sunday.

Put in to bat, Yusuf Pathan's unbeaten 45 runs off 25 balls along with captain Kane Williamson's 47 helped Sunrisers Hyderabad post a competitive 178 for 6.

The competitive target seemed like a cake-walk for the MS Dhoni-led side.

The Yellow Brigade chased down a 179-run target with nine balls to spare.</s>Mahendra Singh Dhoni's wife Sakshi's expression from the stands told hundred stories after Chennai Super Kings clinched their third Indian Premier League (IPL) title, beating Kane Williamson-led SunRisers Hyderabad by eight wickets at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday. Just after Ambati Rayudu hit the winning runs, Sakshi Dhoni was seen ecstatic and started giving high-fives to her friends. The official Twitter handle of IPL shared a video of CSK's winning moment where Sakshi is also seen in celebratory mood.

"Chennai are Super Kings. A fairytale comeback as @ChennaiIPL beat #SRH by 8 wickets to seal their third #VIVOIPL Trophy. This is their moment to cherish, a moment to savour," IPL's tweet read.

Chennai Super Kings clinched their third IPL title after all-rounder Shane Watson single-handedly hammered SunRisers Hyderabad in the summit clash with a blazing hundred.

Reinstated into the IPL after a two-year ban, Dhoni-led side outplayed SunRisers Hyderabad by eight wickets.

Watson remained unbeaten on 117 off 57 balls. The Australian smashed 11 fours and eight sixes as CSK, chasing SunRisers Hyderabad's 179, raced home in 18.3 overs.

Chennai Super Kings beat the Kane Willamson-led side four times in as many games this season.

The MS Dhoni-captained side had entered a seventh IPL final and their stellar campaign ended with a record equalling third title, tying them up with Mumbai Indians.</s>MUMBAI: Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Kane Williamson Saturday credited their run to the Indian Premier League final to a quick recovery after the removal of scandal-tainted David Warner at the start of the Twenty20 tournament.

Williamson, a last-minute replacement for Australia's Warner as the Sunrisers' captain, is up against the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings in the final in Mumbai on Sunday.

Sunrisers, who won the title under Warner in 2016, had topped the league table before suffering a losing streak. They regained form to beat Kolkata Knight Riders in the second qualifier.

"The captaincy absolutely came about fairly suddenly but it's been enjoyable experience as a franchise," Williamson told reporters in the pre-match press conference.

"It's great to be sitting here with Sunrisers in the final. David has been a great part of the franchise as a player as a leader."

But he added that "as events unfolded things changed pretty quickly".

"As a team it was important we gelled quickly together to try and start operating well as a unit," the New Zealand captain said.

Sunrisers' coach Tom Moody, who has been with the franchise since 2012, said Williamson had taken his leadership role like a "duck to water".

For Dhoni it has been a homecoming as captain of the Super Kings, who returned this season after a two-year corruption ban along with Rajasthan Royals.

Dhoni -- who led Rising Pune Supergiant in 2016 and 2017 -- said: "Last two years we were not there but our fan following kept increasing."

Dhoni, who has led Super Kings to two IPL titles, is part of a side with several players above 30 -- an age often regarded as too old in the T20 format.

Players like Faf du Plessis and Dwayne Bravo, who are 33 and 34 respectively, have played key roles in the team's road towards their record seventh IPL final.

"The age... of the boys was definitely a concern," said the 36-year-old Dhoni.

"Because of the frequency of the game you had to manoeuvre your resources. So that when you come to the business end of the tournament the best XI is available for selection."</s>Sunrisers Hyderabad will be hoping it’s fourth time lucky against the Chennai Super Kings after suffering three defeats already to MS Dhoni's side.

Sunrisers had to play one extra game to get to the finals due to their loss to CSK in Qualifier 1.

These two southern rivals met on May 22 in Qualifier 1 in which the Super Kings, champions in 2010 and 2011, just about managed to ward off their rivals in a low-scoring thriller.

MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings have been in sensational form this season and won’t let up at the Wankhede Stadium as they go in search of their third IPL crown.

And Dhoni admits this season has been a challenge with most top players above 30 this time round.

"The challenge this year was slightly different to what we faced in the past seven-eight years,” Dhoni said.

“The age-group of the boys was definitely a concern as we had to keep them fit because of the frequency of the games.

"You have to manoeuvre your resources and you have to look at the bigger picture...to make sure that when we come to the business end of the tournament our best XI is available.

“This year we have been able to do yet, we did have some injury concerns. It's good to have our players available for selection.”
Chennai Super Kings defeat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 8 wickets in the final of the Indian Premier League to win the title for the third time.