The ‘Whistle Podu’ express or the CSK are back in the franchise with a bang by clinching their 3rd IPL title courtesy of an exquisite display of batting skills from none other Shane Watson to come out on top against a very good SRH bowling attack (though it seems like SRH lost their bowling mojo in the Final)
Dhoni once again showed why he is the best in the business, ignoring the convention of batting first in a big final, he chose to do the opposite and trust his instincts and belief in his team to chase any target. On a good batting track, SRH after being put to bat first played well and maintained a healthy run-rate till the end. Sunrisers innings was nicely anchored by their captain Kane Williamson (47), who was unfortunate to miss out on yet another fifty after being caught out of the crease in a premeditated move to the bowling of Karn Sharma.
Yusuf Pathan’s Big Game Knock
In the end it was left to Yusuf Pathan to take teh Sunrisers score to a challenging total and he rose to teh occasion and he used the long handle pretty well. Along with Carlos Braithwaite (21 in 11 balls, 3 sixes), Yusuf Pathan(45 off 25 balls, 2 sixes) ensured that the SRH closed the innings in a very challenging score.
Shane Watson All The Way
When the CSK innings began, Dhoni must have been thinking about the tough score and on how to handle the leg spin of Rashid Khan. It was evident when the first over bowled by Bhuvenesh Kumar seamed in and out and CSK could muster 4 runs offs the first couple of overs. It actually took Shane Watson 11 balls to get off the mark, and Chennai wasn’t really getting any loose balls in the initial power play. It was only in the 3rd over of Sandeep Sharma that Watson could actually free his arms and got a couple of nice hits to the boundary including a beautiful straight drive.
Shane Watson 100 off 51 balls
After the initial hiccup, one could actually see Shane Watson getting into the big game mode and the with the ball finding the middle of thebat, there was no looking back. The way Watson played, Rashid Khan was never in the equation – there wasn’t any need for the CSK batsmen to take any risks against the leg spinner. With Siddarth Kaul bowling poorly in the Final and Shakib being nullified by the big hits of Watson there wasn’t anything that Kane Williamson could do and no other way for this game to end. Shane Watson’s brilliance overshadowed the bowling completely and he raced off to his 2nd century in the IPL off only 51 balls (after scoring the first run in the 11th ball). The final scoreboard – Shane Watson not out 117 off 57 balls with 8 maximums.
The ‘whistle podu’ teams was initially criticised for having an ‘experienced’ team, and Shane Watson certainly showed why it matters, in the big match IPL Finale.