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. [caption id=“attachment_4451575” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
Shane Watson played an excellent knock to set up Chennai Super Kings’ win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL final. SportsPicz[/caption] The 36-year-old Australian hit eight sixes and 11 fours in a 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. Rayudu hit a four to complete victory but he led tributes to Watson. “His experience saw us through. He is a world class player and when he is there anything can happen,” Rayudu said. Watson and Suresh Raina put on a swashbuckling 117-run second-wicket stand with Raina hitting 32. Afghanistan teen sensation Rashid Khan returned figures of 0-24 for Hyderabad but Watson hit the other bowlers to every corner of the stadium. The big-hitting Aussie allrounder plundered 27 runs off one Sandeep Sharma over. Watson took a single off Khan to bring up his hundred in 51 balls and then acknowledged a standing ovation from the Chennai dugout and the crowd with his team already in sight of their IPL triumph. The Australian’s century was equally lauded on social media and here are some of the best reactions on Twitter.
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