IPL 2018: How the crown returned to MS Dhoni's Super Kings

Some people are just born to win. The same can be said about a certain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Dhoni, who has led his teams to some of the greatest victories in international and IPL cricket, once again wrote a fairy tale script as the leader of one of the most popular Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

Winning the IPL crown was a perfect comeback story for CSK, who were returning to the league after a two-year ban thanks to the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal. Ironically, for a team labelled 'Dad's Army' before the start of this league, it was an old warhorse to give them their third crown.

Shane Watson, 36, smacked an unbeaten 117 off just 57 balls to ensure CSK beat Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by eight wickets and with nine balls to spare at the Wankhede, which was painted yellow by Mumbaikars, on Sunday night.

CSK never needed the best finisher of the game – Dhoni – to even walk into the field with a bat as Watson, along with Ambati Rayudu (16 not out), chased down the total with some ease. A 179-run chase was always tricky against the season’s best bowling line-up comprising Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Shakib Al Hasan and the leg-spin sensation Rashid Khan.

However, Watson’s classy and effortless knock made them look more ordinary than special. It was the Aussie's day, as anything that touched his bat either flew over the fielders for six or pierced through them for four after he took 11 balls to get off the mark.

The assault from Watson started with a beautiful straight drive off SRH seamer Sandeep Sharma. And from then on, there was no stopping the Australian as he drove and cut the pacers at will. There were a few edges that landed in no man’s land, but the man with the bat found the gaps effortlessly.

Sharma was at the receiving end of Watson's fury, as he was whacked for three successive sixes in the 13th over. Even the magician Khan could not stop the Watson show, and had to return wicketless.

Watson was involved in 117-run stand with Suresh Raina (32) for the third wicket, 82 of which came from the bat of the latter. Even as Raina got out with the scoreboard at 133 in 13.3 overs, the damage was already done by Watson.

Earlier, Yusuf Pathan showed on why is he still an important player in T20 cricket even though he might have lost his old touch and the ability to go for big hits at will. Pathan played a stellar role in guiding SRH to a challenging 178/6 in 20 overs with an unbeaten 45 not out after skipper Kane Williamson threw away his wicket after a classy 47 that laid the platform.

Pathan used all his experience in this crucial game with a calm and composed knock. Coming in the 13th over, his team required an anchor at that moment with Shakib at the other end. While Shakib went after the attack with regular strikes, Pathan got a boundary off the first ball with a beautiful late cut off leg-spinner Karn Sharma.

A couple of overs later, SRH suffered back-to-back with Hasan and Deepak Hooda returning home. Five down at 144, Hyderabad needed big strikes from Pathan and Carlos Brathwaite, and that is exactly what the two men did.