T20 2018: 'Dad's Army' Chennai turn destiny's children with third title

Chennai's Shane Watson celebrates his century against Hyderabad in the T20 final at the Wankhede Stadium yesterday. Pics/Suresh Karkera

Chennai's journey to their third T20 title has been nothing short of a fairytale. Coming back into the fold after a two-year suspension and to win the title straightaway is an enormous feat. Chennai chased down Hyderabad's 178-6 with eight wickets and nine balls to spare despite Bhuvneshwar Kumar kick-starting the proceedings for the Orange army with a maiden and then restricting them to 35-1 in the Powerplay.

Chennai not only bossed over Hyderabad in the final at the Wankhede Stadium yesterday, but MS Dhoni's men also created T20 history by beating Williamson's team four times in the tournament. Few would have expected Shane Watson to be the hero of the final, with his unbeaten 57-ball 117 knock (11x4s and 8x6s) after the Chennai opener opened his account on the 11th ball he faced with a boundary.

Chennai players celebrate after Ambati Rayudu hits the winning runs

The Hyderabad bowlers were once again successful in putting the Chennai batters under the pump in the Powerplay overs. They would have conceded far less had it not been for Sandeep Sharma leaking 15 runs in the sixth over after Bhuvneshwar started off the proceedings with a maiden. All the good work up front went down the drain with Hyderabad pacer Siddarth Kaul conceding 32 runs off his first two overs as Chennai's Watson and Suresh Raina clobbered 45 runs in four overs post the Powerplay.

Such was the effect of Kaul's two overs that Watson, who struggled to middle the ball initially, was suddenly able to smack everything that he put his willow to. The Aussie brought up his fifty with a sweep over backward square leg that went for six. His fifty off 33 balls was a remarkable comeback.

Watson completely ripped apart Sandeep, taking 27 runs off the 13th over that included a hat-trick of sixes over long-on and a couple of boundaries. It was enough for the vociferous Wankhede crowd to chant 'Chennai Chennai'. The 117-run second- wicket stand was eventually broken with a Carlos Braithwaite bouncer that got rid of Raina (32) caught behind through a review. The damage, however, was done.

Well aware that leggie Rashid Khan (4-1-24-0) would be their biggest threat, the Chennai batters did not take any unnecessary risks, but took on the rest. Hyderabad skipper Williamson (47) and Shikhar Dhawan (26) gathered some momentum in their 51-run stand for the second wicket. But it was the late hitting by Yusuf Pathan and Braithwaite with a 34-run partnership for the sixth wicket that put up a fighting total.

Also Read: MS Dhoni Leads Chennai To Third Indian T20 Title

Catch up on all the latest T20 news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates