IPL 2018, Final, CSK vs SRH: 5 talking points
Shane Watson's magnificent century helped Chennai Super Kings clinch their third IPL title in history with an eight-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai tonight.
Put into bat after losing the toss, SRH scored 178 in their 20 overs with Kane Williamson and Yusuf Pathan scoring 47 and 45 respectively.
Even though they started off brilliantly with the ball as well, Watson, who took as many as eleven balls to get off the mark, recovered brilliantly to blow SRH away as CSK won the match with nine balls to spare.
Here are the five major talking points from the 2018 IPL final.
#5 Karn Sharma gamble pays off
MS Dhoni and the CSK team management took a huge call by replacing Harbhajan Singh in the playing eleven for the final with Karn Sharma, who had played only five games in the current campaign prior to tonight's big clash.
However, just like how he impressed everyone with his showing in the 2017 IPL final against Rising Pune Supergiant, where he conceded just 18 runs in his 4 overs, Karn Sharma produced another decisive performance in the title clash tonight.
The leggie went for 25 in his three overs but, got the key wicket of SRH skipper Kane Williamson at a time when the Kiwi was threatening to take the game away from CSK.
Williamson was batting on 47 and stepped down the track to look and unsettle Sharma, who was being brought back into the attack. But, the Indian leg-spinner read Williamson's mind perfectly and fired a delivery wide of the off-stump and MS Dhoni quickly took the bails to dismiss the Kiwi skipper out stumped.