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> 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> 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, May 22 (IANS) An under-pressure innings from Faf du Plesis (67 not out) helped Chennai Super Kings edged past Sunrisers Hyderabad by two wickets in the first qualifier to enter the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) match here on Tuesday.

Needing 140 runs to win, Chennai chased down the target with five balls to spare.

Du Plesis kept on playing sensibly throughout when no other batman clicked and went back cheaply. He played 42 balls and slammed five boundaries and four sixes.

Hyderabad will now face the winner of the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 on May 25 at Kolkata.

Brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad: 139/7 in 20 overs (Carlos Brathwaite 43 not out; Dwayne Bravo 2/25) against Chennai Super Kings: 140/8 in 19.1 overs (Du Plesis 67; Rashid Khan 2/12) </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> 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> Chennai Super Kings (du Plessis 67*, Raina 22, Rashid 2-11) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad (Brathwaite 43*, Bravo 2-25) by two wickets

play 4:03 Swann: Williamson could've saved Rashid for the death Ajit Agarkar and Graeme Swann break down what Sunrisers Hyderabad could've done to keep Chennai Super Kings' challenge at bay

Faf du Plessis, playing only his fifth match of the season, repaid his captain's faith by playing an innings MS Dhoni himself will be proud of. Chasing 140 to make their seventh final in nine attempts, Chennai Super Kings were reduced to 62 for 6 by the excellent Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling, but du Plessis took the game deep, induced a few errors from the opposition captain, and capitalised on small mistakes here and there. Carlos Brathwaite bowled the 18th over, with 43 to get, ahead of Sandeep Sharma and Shakib Al Hasan. Du Plessis hit that over for four, six and four to give an excellent match its final momentum shift.

If Sunrisers bowlers were brilliant in the defence, Super Kings had bowled to a plan - that to not give away many drives at the unforgiving Wankhede Stadium - to keep Sunrisers down to 139. Incidentally, it was Brathwaite whose hitting in the final few overs - 43 off 29 - gave Sunrisers something to bowl at.

Short, short, short After Shikhar Dhawan played on the first ball of the match, Kane Williamson drove the fourth ball beautifully through cover for four. Deepak Chahar then made two errors by straying down the leg side, but that was the end of the mistakes. Super Kings immediately shifted to a no-drive policy, bowling short or short of a length. Williamson gloved a pull - his fourth dismissal to short or short-of-a-length deliveries this season, Shreevats Goswami offered Lungi Ngidi a return catch, and Shakib Al Hasan too fell to a catch down the leg side. In the seventh over, Sunrisers were 50 for 4. Super Kings' fast bowlers bowled 48 deliveries in the first nine overs, and 20 of them were short or short of a good length, for just 19 runs and four wickets.

Pandey and Yusuf struggle again When Sunrisers needed a run-a-ball partnership, they had Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan in a rut. Pandey's horrible season became worse with a return catch for Ravindra Jadeja for 8 off 16 balls. Yusuf Pathan was peppered with short balls, never mind a wide here or there. The fast bowlers bowled 12 short or short-of-a-good length deliveries to him for just 11 runs. When he fell, at the end of the 15th over, Sunrisers were 88 for 6.

Brathwaite reprises some of his big hitting Before this game, Dwayne Bravo had gone for 11.92 in the last five overs this season, making him not a great choice at death even though he does largely a thankless job. With Lungi Ngidi providing him an option, Dhoni has now started using Bravo more in a role that gives him some leeway. Beginning just after the Powerplay, this was the earliest Bravo has bowled this season. He thanked his captain with figures of 2 for 25 by the end of the 17th over, but now Dhoni had to bowl others. Brathwaite took a shine to Shardul Thakur, hitting the first six of the whole innings in the 18th, following it immediately with another, and taking 37 off his 18th and 20th overs.

Bhuvi, Kaul and Rashid - a triple threat Bhuvneshwar Kumar went one better than Deepak Chahar when he played around with Shane Watson before getting him for a duck in the first over. Siddarth Kaul bowled beautifully to bowl Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu in successive deliveries in the fourth over, making it 24 for 3. This brought out Dhoni - only the third time in the IPL history that he was batting inside the fourth over - and typical Dhoni strategy. Dhoni didn't want to lose wickets, Dhoni wanted to take it deep, he took nine balls to get off the mark, he told du Plessis they will play Rashid out when he was finally introduced in the ninth over. Rashid, though, proved too good as he snuck a wrong'un past a forward defensive to comprehensively bowl Dhoni out. At 39 for 4 in the eighth, it seemed all over.

Stayin' alive - du Plessis style Du Plessis faced just six balls in the Powerplay. He looked inconspicuous during the collapse. Even as Bravo and Jadeja and Chahar fell to make it 92 for 7 after 15 overs, du Plessis kept knocking it around. In between, he hit Shakib for a four and a six in the 14th over to stay in touch with the game. Later in the night, this might have had a bigger impact on the game than just those 10 runs.

The end game With one and four runs coming off the 16th and 17th overs, Sunrisers had every reason to feel good about their chances. Super Kings had three wickets in hand, and 43 to get in the last three overs. Williamson had one over each from Kaul and Bhuvneshwar. Someone had to bowl that one over. That Shakib's last two balls went for 10 runs might have tipped the scales in Brathwaite's favour, but du Plessis clinically took him apart.

Williamson might have erred again when he bowled Kaul in the 19th, risking not bowling Bhuvneshwar out, but there was more fortune going Super Kings' way here. Thakur edged the first two balls of the 19th over for boundaries, making it 15 off 10. This was not the first piece of luck they had enjoyed on the night. A full toss over Shakib's head earlier was called a dead ball, and another wide not called when Brathwaite was hitting Thakur.

Now, though, Super Kings needed just a clinical finish, which du Plessis provided, with a dash of spectacular by sealing it with a six. </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> 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> With the race for the IPL 2018 Playoffs having been decided on the very last day of the league engagements, SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) would both be keen to seal off a berth in the Season11 final when they meet in IPL Qualifier 1 at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday. SunRisers Hyderabad ended on top of the IPL 2018 Points Table even though they lost their last league engagements, while Chennai Super Kings finished second, by run-rate after they won their last league match. Kane Williamson and MS Dhoni will be leading two of the most efficient teams in SRH and CSK and the match promises to be quite a contest. While the winner sails straight into the final slated for May 27, also at Mumbai, the loser will be playing Qualifier 2 in Kolkata on May 25. A slight net run-rate difference separated the two teams which finished the league stage on 18 points. (LIVE SCORECARD)

IPL 2018 Live updates of SunRisers Hyderabad vs Chennai Super Kings Qualifier 1 match, straight from Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

16:43 IST: Head to Head in IPL, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has won 6 of their last 8 encounters against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH)

16:17 IST: Currently, Wankhede is hosting the Supernovas vs Trailblazers match where Trailblazers scored 129/6 in 20 overs.

16:12 IST: Hello and welcome to the live match updates of the first Qualifier match between SunRisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings in Wankhede Stadium.

CSK seem to hold a slight edge going into the match as they have not only got the better of their southern rivals twice in the league stage of the competition but also have the winning momentum going into the match on what promises to be a bouncy track. (Play Fantasy cricket and win lakhs daily)

While Chennai stopped the aspirations of Kings XI Punjab by overcoming a difficult start last night in their adopted home base of Pune, SRH have been on a three-game losing run, having sealed their playoff spot with a victory on May 10 against Delhi Daredevils.
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.