Shane Watson rose to the occasion with a fantastic knock in the finals. (Source: BCCI)
In the final act of Indian Premier League, 2018 Chennai Super Kings beat Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday. CSK lifted their third IPL title in their seventh IPL final and that was primarily due to a masterclass by former Aussie star Shane Watson. Watson’s sensational 117 which featured eight fours and nine sixes ensured that CSK reaches the target of 179 with ease. With two hundreds in season 11, Watson ended the tournament with 555 runs. Battling a hamstring problem, the 36-year-old reached his 50 in 33 balls and then raced to his hundred in 51 deliveries as CSK beat SRH for the fourth time in IPL 11 to end the campaign on a glorious note.
Watson’s matching winning effort in the big finals has grabbed the imagination of fans across the world. Here are some of the best reactions from the world of Twitter-
“Elementary my dear Watson!” Just hit the ball harder and further than anybody else in the @IPL Final. @ShaneRWatson33 #IPL
— Alan Wilkins (@alanwilkins22) 27 May 2018
Shane Watson……. Doesn’t matter how Old you are……… #IPL2018Final
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) 27 May 2018
Big match players… shine on the big stage. Shane Watson just took to the stage; like he owns it @IPL #Final @ChennaiIPL #CSKvSRH
— Anjum Chopra (@chopraanjum) 27 May 2018
Give Watson ten dot balls at the start of every innings then……
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) 27 May 2018
That’s got to be the best knock in the #IPLfinal history surely? @SunRisers have been the team to beat throughout the tournament and they can be extremely proud.Sometimes you can’t do anything when an individual plays like that.Hats off #shanewatson and well deserved @ChennaiIPL
— Brendan Taylor (@BrendanTaylor86) 27 May 2018
Very proud of the way @SunRisers played in this IPL, I thank each and every member of the @SunRisers family for their efforts and support. Absolutely brilliant knock from Shane Watson and many congratulations to @ChennaiIPL on a well-deserved victory #IPLfinal2018
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) 27 May 2018
Very very special performance @ChennaiIPL @ShaneRWatson33 take a bow mate…#crushedit God Bless you all as our beloved festival of @IPL comes to a conclusion. Love you India❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/sDHeLJucwq
— Matthew Hayden AM (@HaydosTweets) 27 May 2018
We did it!!! #ShaneWatson u absolute champ! 💯 What a fantastic innings! @ChennaiIPL are the champions 🎉🎉 Time for celebrations now! #WhistlePodu 💛💛💛 pic.twitter.com/CZuZYkLxrm
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) 27 May 2018
— Murali Vijay (@mvj888) 27 May 2018
Not sure about quality of cricket, but this IPL was the best ever in terms of sustained drama, excitement and entertainment!
👏👏👏🙏👍#VIVOIPL2018— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) 27 May 2018
Congratulations @ChennaiIPL on becoming deserving champions of d biggest T20 tournament in the 🌍 👍#IPL2018Final
— MANOJ TIWARY (@tiwarymanoj) 27 May 2018
Congratulations #CSK on winning the trophy 🏆. A big congratulations to MS Dhoni @msdhoni and the entire CSK team.👍 pic.twitter.com/HlffMHRBHL
— Amit Mishra (@MishiAmit) 27 May 2018
Meanwhile, Watson’s exceptional performance also drew praise from SRH head coach Tom Moody who said, “I saw something special tonight. Shane Watson’s innings was just out of the box; they needed something special and that’s what Watson provided.”
Commenting on his team’s performance, the 55-year-olds said, “I think the season has been really good. We had a few setbacks early on with a few players unavailable. It wasn’t a bad thing for us to come back to earth after the start, rejig something for the finals. Kane has shown the cricketing world that he can play all three formats leisurely. We are really fortunate to have him in the squad and every team is lucky to have him at the helm.”