The two months of cricketing extravaganza finally came to a thrilling end after Chennai Super Kings triumphed over a clinical Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final in front of thousands of fans inside the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. IPL has fast become a tournament where the seven teams keep competing against each other to play CSK in the finals. Jokes apart, CSK over the years has dominated the star-studded cricket tournament since its inception in 2008. Mahendra Singh Dhoni aka Captain Cool led the Chennai-based franchise to its third title in the nine years of the team’s participation in the tournament, after the team was banned from participating in the 2016 and 2017 edition of the tournament.
The summit clash between CSK and SRH, the two outstanding teams throughout the tournament, was worth the hype. Sunrisers Hyderabad came out to bat first in front of a packed Wankhede stadium, as CSK captain M S Dhoni won the toss and opted to field first. The Hyderabad-based franchise posted a compatible total of 178 for 5 wickets, with captain Kane Williamson-the orange cap winner, was the team’s highest scorer with a 47 off 36 balls, while Yusuf Pathan scored a quick fire 45 runs off 25 balls. Chennai came out to chase down the total, but struggled initially with only 20 runs on board in the first five overs, but then the floodgates opened up in Wankhede as it was raining sixes and fours. The 36-year-old Australian Shane Watson, who struggled to open his account for the first 10 balls, reminded the cricketing world that the veteran is still not far from his best, as he dismantled the best bowling line-up in the tournament with a knock of 57-ball 117. The Man-of-the-Match innings was topped off with eleven 4s and eight 6s. Chennai Super Kings defeated the Hyderabad-based franchise with 9 deliveries to spare and won their third IPL trophy
The Homecoming of the “Kings”
Chennai Super Kings made a triumphant return to the billion-dollar cricketing tournament after being banned from participation in the IPL for two years due to the spot-fixing and illegal betting scam that was uncovered in 2013. Before the ban, CSK was the most successful team in the franchise-based tournament with the team reaching the finals on 6 occasions and emerged victorious in two of those. This years team CSK was lampooned for the ageing squad but they showed how to never count out an ageing lion, he will remain the king of the jungle. MS Dhoni led the team ever so gracefully, with team emerging as the second-best team during the league stage before defeating Sunday’s finalist SRH in the first qualifier on Tuesday en route to final, it been a happy homecoming for the Kings.
