Chennai, April 23: Shane Watson announced his return to form and almost single-handedly steered Chennai Super Kings to a six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 encounter.
With this win, CSK brought an end to their two back-to-back defeats and continued their dominance at MA Chidambaram Stadium and once again climbed at the top of the table.
Watson scored a brilliant knock of 53-ball 96 and missed his fifth IPL ton by a whisker. The right-handed former Australia cricketer smashed nine boundaries and six maximums in his knock. He was dismissed while attempting an ambitious shot on the bouncer against Bhuvneshwar and Jonny Bairstow took a brilliant diving catch.
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Chasing a target of 176, CSK openers Watson and Faf du Plessis (1) started cautiously as they took eleven deliveries to get off the mark as Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed started things well with the new ball. The pressure of the scoreboard forced Du Plessis to take a quick single but a direct hit from substitute Deepak Hooda ended his innings.
CSK vice captain Suresh Raina stepped into the middle and started scoring runs with an attacking mindset with a boundary on the very first ball he faced. He then bludgeoned 22 runs from Sandeep Sharma's first over in the powerplay and brought CSK back on the track in the run chase.
Together with Watson, Raina (38) forged a partnership of 77 runs before Rashid Khan got the better of the southpaw with a brilliant googly. After Raina's departure, Watson unleashed himself and not just notched up his first half-century of the season and later targetted SunRisers' key bowler Rashid.
Speaking the Boundary language like it's his mother-tongue! #ChinnaThala #WhistlePodu #Yellove pic.twitter.com/cN3PS59tQ6
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) April 23, 2019
The 20-year-old has never got the wicket of Watson and the Australia attacked the Afghan spinner with some big hits. Along with Ambati Rayudu (21), Watson stitched another 80-run stand and made the run chase look easy for the home team.
Later, Kedar Jadhav (11*) hit the winning runs and took his team on the other side as the visitors tried to make a game after Bhuvneshwar (1/18) got the wicket of Watson in the 18th over but it was already too late.
Earlier, David Warner struck his fifth consecutive half-century in the tournament and attacked CSK spinners in his trademark style to revive SRH after his opening partner Jonny Bairstow was dismissed for duck by Harbhajan Singh. Bairstow - who was playing his last game of the season - had a forgettable outing at Chepauk.
Watto Form! The night he gave #AnbuDen today! #WhistlePodu #Yellove 🦁💛 pic.twitter.com/MdJEnzZXEt
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) April 23, 2019
But Manish Pandey, who made a comeback after being dropped for quite a few games due to poor form - announced his return to form with an unbeaten 83 off 49. Along with Warner (57) he forged a century stand. The duo attacked Chennai spinners in the powerplay till the 15th over.
At the time of Warner's dismissal in 13.3 overs, Sunrisers were 120 for 2. Vijay Shankar (26 off 20) and Pandey tried to up the ante in the death overs but Chennai bowlers pulled thing back and prevented the visitors from posting a total in access of 185-190, which at one stage was looking gettable.
Harbhajan Singh was the pick of the bowlers for Chennai as he got the wickets of Bairstow and Warner but he also conceded 39 runs from his quota of 4 overs. Deepak Chahar (1/30) bowled well in the death over while Dwyane Bravo too put a brake on the flow of runs in the death and prevented the visitors from carrying the momentum at the end of the innings.
Here's how the match between CSK and SRH panned out:
Shane Watson, Man of the Match: I was due for runs, that's for sure. I can't thank Stephen Fleming and MS Dhoni enough for their belief in me. Most of the teams I've played in, I would have been dropped by now but they showed the trust in me. Of course, I was doing alright in the PSL and in the BBL too, struck the ball well. Needed some things to go my way, like it did today when Bhuvi was all over me. He is an incredibly skilful bowler as he swings it both ways.
MS Dhoni, the winning captain: I think you can give individuals some games and the team gives them the rest. Watson has been a matchwinner for us. He has been batting well in the nets. Whatever small innings he played so far, he was middling them well although he did struggle a bit. This is the time when you need to back them. The management's thinking was to give him as many games as possible. And the team winning also means that a player gets more games than he would actually get. It's good to see different individuals step up every game. Nice to see our bowling department do well but would like our batting unit also get into the mode that's necessary for the playoffs. If I tell everyone what it is, then they won't buy me at the auctions. It's a trade secret. The crowd support and franchise's support are key of course. Huge credit has to also go to the support staff who play a huge role in keeping the team atmoshphere good for the team and other individuals. Other than this, I can't reveal anything till I retire. It's alright, not showing signs of getting worse. With the World Cup coming, I need to be careful as that comes first
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the losing captain: It was a par score on that wicket. There was dew on the ground but that didn't really bother us. The way Watson batted we couldn't really do much. This is probably the first off day for Rashid in three years, anyone can have an off day. The credit goes to Watson. We will obviously miss Bairstow but we have players in the squad who can replace him. We have three away games now out of four and we have to win those games to qualify. We have to be our best to defeat RR. I have learnt a lot doing captaincy.
The winning moments!
.@ChennaiIPL have made it a habit to take it to the last over but finish the game, winning by 6 wickets 💛#CSKvSRH pic.twitter.com/8gAiGUx6oX
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 23, 2019
It's all over! Kedar Jadhav gets the winning runs and Chennai beat SunRisers by 6 wickets with 1 ball remaining. Shane Watson has announced his return to form and CSK have once again went up at the top.
@ChennaiIPL back on track. Good to see Shane Watson in beast mode tonight. That was vintage.
— ian bishop (@irbishi) April 23, 2019
Wicket! Ambati Rayudu mistimes the ball and Vijay Shankar takes a simple catch. CSK - 175/4 in 19.4 overs. 1 needed from 2 balls. This team has a habit of making it a nail-biting finish.
Scores level! 1 needed from 3 balls.
SIX! Kedar Jadhav hit Sandeep for a maximum. 2 needed from 4 balls. Brilliant fielding effort from Manish in the deep.
0,1,1,1L,1,0! 4 came from that over bowled by Khaleel. CSK - 167/3 after 19 overs. They need 9 from last 6 deliveries.
W,0,1,1L,1,0! 3 runs and the big wicket of Shane Watson came from that over bowled by Bhuvneshwar. CSK - 163/3 after 18 overs. 13 needed from 12 balls. Rayudu and Jadhav are present into the middle.
Wicket! Shane Watson (96) misses a well-deserved to. He misses his fifth IPL ton as Jonny Bairstow takes a stunning catch to bring an end to stunning innings. It would have been a wide had he not attempted a shot. Bhuvneshwar strikes. CSK - 160/3 after 17.1 overs. 16 needed from 17 balls.
1,6,1,0,0,2! 10 runs came from that over bowled by Khaleel. CSK - 160/2 after 18 overs. 16 needed from 18 balls.
SIX!! Shane Watson pulls Khaleel for another maximum. He moves on to 95.
Milestone! Watson has completed 8000 T20 runs tonight.
The 🇦🇺 superstar has crossed 8⃣0⃣0⃣0⃣ runs in T20 cricket!#CSKvSRH #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/cbE7B85U9U
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 23, 2019
Four! Watson sweeps Rashid and gets a boundary. 15 runs came from that over bowled by Rashid and he finishes with 4-0-44-1. How often do you see Rashid ending up with such figures? CSK - 150/2 after 16 overs. 26 needed from 24.
SIX!! Shane Watson dispatches Rashid for a maximum. It was googly from Rashid and brilliantly hit.
Four, Four! Back-to-back boundaries from Watson off Bhuvneshwar. The first one was brilliantly played towards the third man while the second one just took a leading edge and raced towards slip cordon for a boundary.
4,1,4,6,0,1! 16 runs came from that over bowled by Rashid. CSK - 125/2 after 14 overs. 51 needed from 36. Bhuvneshwar brings himself into the attack in the 15th over.
SIX!! Shane Watson pulls Rashid for a maximum. 15 runs from his 4 deliveries so far in this over.
Four! Shane Watson sweeps Rashid and gets a boundary. Good effort in deep by Sandeep but in vain.
Four! Rashid Khan has been brought into the attack and Rayudu gets a boundary on the first delivery. It was timed to perfection and in gap.
Crowd's reaction to Watson's fifty!
The #Anbuden roar for Watto 50! #WhistlePodu #Yellove #CSKvSRH 💛🦁 pic.twitter.com/AbgYqcLA7C
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) April 23, 2019
1,1,0,1,1,1! 5 runs came from the final over of Shakib's spell. Superb over from the left-arm spinner. CSK - 109/2 after 13 overs. 67 needed from 42 balls.
SIX!! Shane Watson hammers Sandeep Sharma over mid-wicket and gets to his first fifty of the season. He gets to his fifty off 35 deliveries.
Dhoni invests in stocks and holds. Doesn't sell or dump. #Watson
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 23, 2019
Four! Shane Watson hits Sandeep Sharma towards mid-on boundary. Powerfully hit and the ball bisected the fielders in the deep.
CSK are 80/2 after 10 overs.
Wicket! Suresh Raina (38) has been stumped by Bairstow. It was a googly and the batsman failed to read it. Brilliant bowling from Rashid and he gets the wicket they were looking for. The 77-run stand between him and Watson comes to an end.
Rashid Khan bowls the 10th over for Sunrisers. CSK - 73/1 after 9 overs
Dropped! Thick edge from Shane Watson's bat off Sandeep and Bairstow makes a full dive towards his right. It would have been a stunning catch and Watson would have departed for 33.
CSK - 68/1 after 8 overs. Some heated exchange of words between Watson and Rashid into the middle. Who will win this battle?