BY SACNILK

It has been a roller coaster journey for Chennai Super Kings. Coming back after two years of the ban and win the title, tells their story. From the match one, they looked a champion side. They found a different hero in every different match which makes them a true champion side. There will be no exaggeration to say that Champions are back to where they belong.## CSK was playing its 7th Indian Premier League final in nine seasons they have played. In previous six attempts, they came out as victorious on two occasions.## Here is the reaction of CSK players after the title triumph:## "Very amazing. It's been a roller coaster of emotions. Good to come away with a win and lucky to be part of an IPL winning side. Not many people get to experience such a moment. It's lovely to have the death bowling responsibility on your shoulders and take it in your stride, one ball at a time in a pressure situation and it is great to help the team win." - Lungi Ngidi## "It has been good. This is a special moment. The team did not play together for the last two years. We had to move from Chennai after one game. For most of the guys, this is their first time. We were able to keep focus and do it. Nothing is better than winning finals. We always said the experience will help in crunch times. Watson batted on one leg and despite the hamstring, his experience helped him. Watson is a world-class player." - Dwayne Bravo## "I was really fortunate to have such a season for Chennai. I worked really hard for it and am glad that I could hit the winning runs. Initially, the wicket looked a little slow, it was damp, got much quicker and I am glad we could chase it down." - Ambati Rayudu## "It is great. Last year I was part of final, but couldn't win it. But this year we won it and it is incredible. I am feeling at top of the world. I think I had the last game in my mind, had to bowl well in the death. More often than not you get hit in this format. Today I was on top of my game and executed the plans." - Shardul Thakur## "I enjoyed bowling with the new ball. I have been waiting for my chance and this year I got my chance. Thanks to Mahi bhai for believing in me; batting, bowling and fielding. It is everyone's dream to play in the IPL and win it, one of my dreams have come true." - Deepak Chahar## "Brilliant the way we came out and chased it down. To see what Watson, what he brings to the table, you know how many runs you might get, it is always changeable. Fourth IPL title for me and I am glad. I mean considering that Kane was in good form and they had a lot of middle-order batsmen who were right-handers, Dhoni was right that he needed someone who would take the ball away from the batsman. We have seen wrist spinners bowling more and more overs in the IPL compared to finger spinners. But I hope it would change next year. Well done to Karn and glad to be on the winning side." - Harbhajan Singh## "Each year has been different for us. We stayed pretty consistent with the core of our team when others kept chopping and changing. It's one thing that players are older, but it's the professionalism that we got to look into as well. MS Dhoni handles me (smiles). It's about man-management. When he goes on the field he can do the things. There's a lot of trusts as well and it's a nice relationship to have with him." - Stephen Fleming## "It's been a special season, to be honest. To get a special season especially after the last season with RCB. It means a lot to be with a franchise like CSK. After those first ten balls, I was only hoping to catch up to at least a run-a-ball. Bhuvi is really good with the new ball and was lucky to get the opportunity to catch up. It was good that I got a couple of boundaries to hit and get on par to take it from there. The good thing is that I wouldn't be playing for the next three-four months; feels great. It gives me plenty of time to recover. Throughout the back end of the tournament I was hanging on for dear life, Stephen Fleming and MS Dhoni have been looking after me really well and I am really glad to contribute like I did tonight." - Shane Watson## "By the team you reach the finals everybody knows their roles. The fielders have to adjust their roles while fielding, but while batting the styles are well known. So if somebody is finding it difficult in the middle, you know the incoming batsmen wouldn't find it easy as well. [On Bravo sitting with pads on] He keeps doing it on his own. There was no plan as such; with Faf playing Rayudu had to come down at four. But Bravo is someone who pads quite easily and stays ready. Very difficult to recall what the earlier championship wins were. A lot of people talk about stats , so tonight is 27th, my jersey number is seven and this is the seventh final for us. Enough reasons to win it. But none of these reasons matter, what matters is that we've won it in the end. We talked a lot about age but what matters is the fitness. Rayudu for example is 33, he's someone who is fit, covers a lot of ground. Even if he plays a few games where he spends a lot of time in the ground and in the field, he never complains. So it is the fitness that really matters more than the age aspect. What captains want is players who move well in the field. It doesn't matter which year a player is born in, whether you are 19 or 20 - you have to be agile. You have to accept your shortcomings. For example if I push Watson to stop a single, there is a very good chance that he'll burst his hamstring and won't be available for the next game. So what you tell yourselves is that they have to commit and try, but there's no point getting injured for a single. No plans to celebrate as of now. We are going to Chennai tomorrow, meet a few people, the fans and some people who are close to the franchise. But we'll have a get-together in the hotel and celebrate." - MS Dhoni## Thanks for the reading.

BY SACNILK

Chennai Super Kings made a fairy-tale comeback to win their 3rd IPL title after they beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 8 wickets at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday (May 27). It proved to be a one-sided affair in the end as CSK comfortably won the match with 9 balls to the spare in reply of 179. Thanks to Shane Watson's second hundred in this IPL.## As it happened## In this final, it was Chennai Super Kings who won the toss and opted to field first. Sunrisers Hyderabad lost Shreevats Goswami early. After that Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson took charge and put on a 51-run stand off 40 balls before Ravindra Jadeja bowled out Dhawan. He scored 26 off 25 balls. However, Kane Williamson was going strong and scored 47 off 36 balls. After the wicket of Williamson, Yusuf Pathan took responsibility on his own shoulder and scored a quick-fire 45* off 25 balls. He added 34 runs with Carlos Brathwaite (21 off 11) and lifted SRH to 178 after 20 overs. It was good to defend in final.## In reply of 179, it was one man show. Despite losing Faf du Plessis(10) on 16, CSK never looks in any sort of trouble. Shane Watson and Suresh Raina took the game completely away from SRH by putting a match-winning partnership of 117 off 57 balls. However, Raina could only contribute 32 off 24 balls. Later, Watson and Ambati Rayudu added 48 runs together for the 3rd wicket and help CSK to win their 3rd IPL title in seven attempts. In this process, Watson scored his 4th IPL century (2nd of this season).## Williamson continued his purple patch## Going into this match, skipper Kane Williamson had a huge responsibility on his shoulders. Not only as a captain but as a batsman. However, he didn't disappoint with his performance. After the first wicket, he ensured that SRH reaches to a good total. Firstly, he put on a solid partnership with Dhawan and later, he added quick 37 off 22 balls with Shakib Al Hasan. Before he got out, SRH had already reached to 101 in 12 overs.## Shakib Al Hasan 23 off 15, Yusuf Pathan's quickfire 45* off 25 balls and Carlos Brathwaite's cameo of 21 off 10 balls ensured that SRH put on a good total of 178 to defend.## Shane Watson's one-man show dismiss SRH's challenge## At the halfway stage, 178 was looking very good to defend especially after the bowling SRH had. But once the chase began, SRH looked ordinary against Shane Watson. However, he took his time to get set and scored his first run after 10 balls. But once he got set, he took SRH's bowlers all around the park. His assault came hard on Sandeep Sharma who conceded 52 runs in his 4 overs including a 27-run over. Watson was very careful against Rashid Khan and Bhuvneshawar Kumar. His partnership with Raina ensured that CSK didn't score much in last overs.## After losing Raina, SRH might sense a comeback but Rayudu didn't allow them to bounce back in this game. He made only 16* off 19 balls but put on match-winning partnership off 48* with Watson. Watson remained unbeaten on 117 off 57 balls including 11 fours and 8 sixes and awarded Man Of The Match## An ordinary night for SRH bowlers## It was one of those days when SRH's bowlers failed to make an impact. Their premier bowlers, however, didn't concede too many runs but going wicketless didn't help SRH cause. Sandeep Sharma had a forgettable match as he gave away 52 runs in his 4 overs and picked 1 wicket. Siddarth Kaul also had a bad night as he conceded 43 runs in just 3 overs.## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for reading.

BY SACNILK

Chennai Super Kings becomes the first team to reach into the final of the VIVO IPL 2018 after Faf du Plessis stunning 67* off 42 balls helped his team to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 2 wickets in the first qualifier at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Tuesday (May 22).## Sunrisers Hyderabad posts 139 on the board after putting to bat first. Thanks to Carlos Brathwaite's late blitz of 43* off 29 balls. In reply, CSK were struggling on 62 for 6 before du Plessis pulled out a stunning show and won it almost single handily for his team.## SRH off to a miserable start## After putting to bat first, Sunrisers lost Shikhar Dhawan on the very first ball of the innings. Deepak Chahar's inswinging got Dhawan out. However, Kane Williamson hit three back to back fours in first over and tried to give momentum to SRH innings. When they were looking to build a partnership Lungi Nagidi dismissed Goswami before Shardul Thakur trapped big fish in back to back overs. Williamson scored 24 off 15. After that, they kept losing wickets in regular space and at one stage they reduced to 88 for 6 after 15 overs.## Brathwaite's late assault kept SRH in the hunt## After losing 6 wickets on 88, Carlos Brathwaite took responsibility on his own shoulders and hammered 43 off 29 balls including one four and 4 sixes. He put on a 51-run stand off 30 balls with Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He collected 20 runs from the last over Thakur with two sixes and a four.## CSK off to similar start to SRH## In reply to 140, CSK got off to very much similar start as SRH had started. First Bhuvneshwar got Shane Watson in 5th ball of the innings. After that Suresh Raina hit three fours to Sandeep Sharma before Siddarth Kaul bowled Raina and Ambati Rayudu out on back to back balls. Raina scored 22 while Rayudu could not open his account. After that, it was Rashid Khan who had almost won the game for SRH by picking MS Dhoni in 8th over.## Rashid Khan kept things tight further. In this process, he got another wicket this time he trapped Bravo in slip region. At one stage they reduced to 62 for 6 after 12.3 overs.## Du Plessis- finish it off in style## After losing 6 wickets, Plessis added 30 runs off 15 balls with Chahar for the 7 wickets. But he changed the game in 18th over where he scored 20 runs off Brathwaite with the help of 3 fours and a six. In that over he reached his first fifty of this IPL off just 37 balls. With 23 runs needed in two overs, Shardul Thakur joined the party with Plessis and hammered valuable 17 runs off Siddarth Kaul in 19th over. Only 6 required off the last over, Plessis hit the first ball for a six and helped CSK to reach their record 7th IPL final. Du Plessis hit 5 fours and 4 sixes in his match-winning knock and awarded Man Of The Match## Spinners day out## In a low scoring thriller, Ravindra Jadeja and Rashid Khan were the star performer with the balls. First Jadeja who conceded only 13 runs in his 4 overs and picked Manish Pandey while Rashid Khan finished his spell with the even more impressive figures of 4-0-11-2. Lungi Nagidi also bowled well and gave away only 20 runs in 4 overs and picked a wicket too.## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.

BY SACNILK

Kings XI Punjab has been knocked out from the IPL in 2018 after they lost to Chennai Super Kings by 5 wickets. It was not only a must-win game for KXIP but also they needed to win it by 53 plus runs to qualify for the playoffs. However, it became even more difficult after they restricted to below par score of 153 after putting to bat first.## Chennai Super Kings chased down the target in 19.1 over after Suresh Raina's match-winning knock of 61* off 48 balls.## It was hard to understand that KXIP could not qualify for the playoffs as they were on top after the first half of the season where they won 5 out of 7 matches they played. But it was their middle order failure which let them down badly. Skipper Ravichandran Ashwin also thinks that their middle order did not play well at all which was expected.## "Rahul and Gayle were making most of the runs but the middle order did not click at all which was expected, which hurt us in the latter half of the tournament. Ankit did very well and of course, KL was amazing. We have Purple Cap holder in Tye as well. So loads of positive but we have not applied ourselves. We have not commanded any respect at all in terms of getting a result on our own terms," said Ashwin in the post-match presentation.## However, Ashwin thinks that their loss against Royal Challengers Bangalore cost them a lot where they lost by 10-wickets.## "The game against RCB cost a lot. Not only in terms of the run-rate but especially in terms of moral. We were not really there in terms of performance on such a day. But CSK were better today. A good team culture will help us win tournaments in future. So would like to build that culture slowly in this new look franchise and we will look to do much better next time,".## KXIP's loss takes Rajasthan Royals through playoffs where they were waiting for this match to be in their favour. Now they will join SRH, CSK and KKR in playoffs.## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.

BY SACNILK

Bottom-placed Delhi Daredevils beat Chennai Super Kings by 34-runs at the Firoz Shah Kotla, Delhi on Friday (May 18). However, this win did not affect the points table as DD had already been out of this competition.## Batting first, Delhi Daredevils at one stage was looking to restrict to below 150, before a massive last over gave them a big total courtesy of some big hitting from Harshal Patel and Vijay Shankar. Chasing 163, only Ambati Rayudu managed to get some runs. None of the other batsmen could manage to score big and resulted in they restricted 34 runs short from the target.## How pitch played, was it difficult for the batsmen?## It was definitely not a pitch where you go and play your shots straightway. Deepak Chahar and Trent Boult found a swing on it while Lungi Nagidi and Avesh Khan bowled at a decent pace. Spinners also found a turn on this pitch. On the other hand, while other batsmen found difficult to score runs, Harshal Patel, Rishabh Pant and Ambati Rayudu played at a decent pace.## DD off to a good start before Nagidi hit them back## Delhi Daredevils despite losing Prithvi Shaw early, off to a good start. However, Shaw looked scratchy against the moving deliveries while Shreyas Iyer too couldn't find much rhythm in his batting. They manage to get only 39 runs in the powerplay. But Rishabh Pant, who has been in outstanding form throughout this IPL, played at a decent pace.## DD was looking in a comfortable position at 78 for 1 before Lungi Nagidi came to the attack and dismissed both Pant and Iyer in same over. Glenn Maxwell also couldn't do much and went for a reverse sweep before Ravindra Jadeja bowled him out. Abhishek Sharma after playing blitzing innings in the previous match, couldn't repeat that performance and got out cheaply after scoring 2 off u4 balls. With the wicket of Sharma, Daredevils reduced to 97 for 5 after 14.4 overs.## Patel and Vijay Shankar came to rescue and made the difference## After reducing to 97 for 5, Daredevils needed someone to stood out for them in the middle and they found the right people for the job in Vijay Shankar and Harshal Patel. After 19 overs, Delhi Daredevils were 136 for 5 and looking to finish around 145 but Harshal Patel had some other Idea. He went after Bravo in last over and collect 26 runs from that over including 4 sixes and gave Delhi more than enough to defend. Patel remained unbeaten on 36 off 16 balls while Vijay Shankar scored 36* off 28 balls.## Rayudu shone again## In reply, Chennai Super Kings off to a good start. However, Shane Watson was bit scratchy but Ambati Rayudu continued his fine form and hit another half-century in this IPL. He took only 28 balls to reach that. Both Watson and Rayudu added 46 runs for the first wicket before Watson got out to Amit Mishra. He made only 14 off 23 balls. However, Rayudu also got out after getting his fifty to Harshal Patel. He made 50 off 29 balls with the help of 4 fours and as many sixes.## DD kept things tight to restricted them## When Rayudu got out, CSK were 70 for 2 after 10 overs. Daredevils bowled with right line and length and made difficult for them to score runs. Ravindra Jadeja played a cameo 27† off 18 balls but it had been too late till then as they fell short 34 runs from the target.## Daredevils bowling was well on top but Amit Mishra and Trent Boult were the stars with the bowl. They both finished with same figures of 4-0-20-2 each. Harshal Patel also grabbed a wicket and awarded Man Of The Match for his all-round display.## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for reading.

BY SACNILK

Chennai Super Kings beat table topper Sunrisers Hyderabad by 8-wickets after Ambati Rayudu's maiden IPL ton at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune on Sunday (May 13). Ambati Rayudu and Shane Watson provided a solid start to CSK after Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson's 123-run stand lifted SRH to 179 after 20 overs. CSK chased down the target with one over to spare.## Ambati Rayudu- The show-stopper## Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu gave CSK a solid start by putting 134-run stand for the first wicket. However, Watson ran out himself after scoring 57 off 35 balls. But Ambati Rayudu was the show-stopper for the CSK. He not only scored his maiden IPL century but also guided CSK through home comfortably by remaining not out on 100. None of the SRH bowler could make an impact against him. He reached to his fifty off 31 balls with a massive six to Siddarth Kaul.## Before that, both Rayudu and Watson took on Bowlers. In second over of the innings, Rayudu hit first six of the innings to Bhuvneshwar Kumar and after that Watson followed up by two back to back sixes to Sandeep Sharma. CSK completed their 50 in just sixth over. Rayudu celebrated it with 2 fours and a six to Kaul.## After losing Watson, Suresh Raina couldn't do much and got out to Sandeep Sharma after scoring 2 off 3 balls. The wicket of Raina brought Dhoni on the crease and Both Dhoni and Rayudu put 43-run stand for the 3rd wicket and took CSK home with 6 balls to spare. In this process, Rayudu completed his first century off 62 balls with the help of 7 fours and 7 sixes.## Dhawan, Williamson strikes again## After putting to Sunrisers bat first, CSK gave them early blow as Deepak Chaher celebrated his comeback by picking Alex Hales in fourth over of the innings. Hales fell cheaply after scoring only 2 off 9 balls. But after that it was all Dhawan and Williamson show. Dhawan followed his unbeaten 92 off 50 balls at the other with stunning 79 off 49 balls. On the other hand, skipper Williamson also continued his fine form with 51 off 39 balls. The duo put on a thrilling 123 off 75 balls before Shikhar Dhawan handed a simple catch to Harbhajan Singh of DJ Bravo. Williamson also lost his concentration and followed Dhawan on first ball of the next over as Bravo took a brilliant diving catch to sent back Williamson.##Manish Pandey's struggle continued in to this match## When Williamson got out, SRH were 141 for 3 after 16 overs. However, Manish Pandey again failed to make his mark as he could manage to score only 5 off 6 balls. He had been struggling to score throughout in this IPL. It was one of those days when he couldn't connect the ball. It seemed that it wasn't his day as he dropped Dhoni at long boundary while Fielding.## However, Deepak Hooda provided finishing touch to SRH with a cameo of 21 off 11 balls including a four and six. And lifted SRH to 179 after 20 overs.## Ambati Rayudu awarded Man Of The Match for his stunning knock. He is also on the fourth number in highest run-getter in this IPL with 535 runs to his name in 12 innings.## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for reading.