IPL 2018: Final, CSK vs SRH - Who Said What

What a knock it was from Shane Watson in the mega final of the Indian Premier League (IPL)! The jam-packed crowd of the Wankhede Stadium was treated with an absolutely special inning from the former Australian cricketer. The chase of 179 runs was gunned down by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 19th over with utter ease on the back of a sensational batting from Shane Watson who remained unbeaten on 117 runs off just 57 deliveries. However, they have also won the title for the third time now and equalled Mumbai Indians (MI) in that aspect in the IPL.

Watson struggled totally to get going early on in his innings and took 11 balls to get off the mark by drilling the full-length ball of Sandeep Sharma. Then the onslaught began as he literally ripped apart the best bowling attack of the tournament. Only Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan were spared cleverly by him and just whacked away the other bowlers on the day to reach the three-figure mark off just 51 deliveries. He was supported well by Suresh Raina who scored 32 runs off 24 deliveries and stitched a match-winning stand of 117 runs with him.

Earlier, it was the brilliance of Yusuf Pathan and Kane Williamson which got the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to a more than competitive total of 178 runs. They lost the wicket of Shreevats Goswami early after being invited to bat first which brought the in-form Kane Williamson to the middle. But Shikhar Dhawan also was castled soon by Ravindra Jadeja which put them in trouble. However, Shakib Al Hasan counter-attacked superbly to bring the momentum back into the innings of his team as they reached the 100-run mark in the 12th over.

Then the experience of Yusuf Pathan came to the fore for the Orange army as he put an exhibition of power-hitting against the CSK bowlers. His heroics along with Carlos Brathwaite, in the end, propelled the team’s total but it was Shane Watson who stole all the limelight, unfortunately. He was the match-winner when it mattered the most and went on to hit his second century of the season.

Man of the Match, Shane Watson said:

It’s been a special season to be honest. To get a special season especially after the last season with RCB. It means a lot to be with a franchise like CSK.

After those first ten balls I was only hoping to catch up to at least a run-a-ball. Bhuvi is really good with the new ball and was lucky to get the opportunity to catch up. It was good that I got a couple of boundaries to hit and get on par to take it from there.

The good thing is that I wouldn’t be playing for the next three-four months; feels great. It gives me plenty of time to recover. 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.

Chennai Super Kings captain, MS Dhoni said:

By the time you reach the final everybody know their roles. The fielders have to adjust their roles while fielding, but while batting the styles are well known. So if somebody is finding it difficult in the middle, you know the incoming batsmen wouldn’t find it easy as well.

Well, Bhuvi is as deceptive as Rashid and thus it’s not just one bowler in their side who could put pressure on us. So it was a good batting effort, but we always had belief in the firepower our middle-order has.

[On Bravo sitting with pads on] He keeps doing it on his own. There was no plan as such (to promote him up); with Faf playing Rayudu had to come down at four. But Bravo is someone who pads quite easily and stays ready. Very difficult to recall what the earlier championship wins were.

A lot of people talk about stats, so tonight is 27th, my jersey number is seven and this is the seventh final for us. Enough reasons to win it. But none of these reasons matter, what matters is that we’ve won it in the end.

We talked a lot about age but what matters is the fitness. Rayudu for example is 33, he’s someone who is fit, covers a lot of ground. Even if he plays a few games where he spends a lot of time in the ground and in the field, he never complains. So it is the fitness that really matters more than the age aspect.

What captains want is players who move well in the field. It doesn’t matter which year a player is born in, whether you are 19 or 20 – you have to be agile. You have to accept your shortcomings.

For example if I push Watson to stop a single, there is a very good chance that he’ll burst his hamstring and won’t be available for the next game. So what you tell yourselves is that they have to commit and try, but there’s no point getting injured for a single.

No plans to celebrate as of now. We are going to Chennai tomorrow, meet a few people, the fans and some people who are close to the franchise. But we’ll have a get-together in the hotel and celebrate.

Sunrisers Hyderabad captain, Kane Williamson said:

We thought it would be a very competitve total. Hats off, Shane Watson comes and gets 120 not out in the final. It’s frustrating, but CSK were deserved winners.

A new bunch of guys in SRH, a great bunch of guys in the unit. Showed great character. It was a great experience leading this side, shame that we couldn’t win the final.

Every team is trying to find the balance between bat and ball. Rashid is a great asset for us. As a team we look back fondly on the season. It’s a collective effort from the team.

Coach of Chennai Super Kings, Stephen Fleming said:

Each year has been different for us. We stayed pretty consistent with the core of our team when others kept chopping and changing.

It’s one thing that players are older, but it’s the professionalism that we got look into as well. MS Dhoni handles me (smiles). It’s about man-management.

When he goes on the field he can do the things. There’s a lot of trust as well and it’s a nice relationship to have with him.

Coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad, Tom Moody said:

I saw something special tonight. Shane Watson’s innings was just out of the box; they needed something special and that’s what Watson provided.

I think the season has been really good. We had a few setbacks early on with a few players unavailable. It wasn’t a bad thing for us to come back to earth after the start, regig something for the finals.

Kane has shown the cricketing world that he can play all three formats leisurely. We are really fortunate to have him in the squad and every team is lucky to have him at the helm.

[On Rashid] He’s a terrific cricketer, not only in India but everybody’s fallen in love with him. Not only his bowling, we saw what a flash he had with the bat in Calcutta.

Keep following CricTracker for more news and updates