Shane Watson gets teary after winning the IPL title single-handedly for Chennai Super Kings

For Watson, this tournament was more than just a retirement fund, he had to prove that his career had not come to an end, which he kept as a possibility after the dismal season with the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Published - 28 May 2018, 14:13 IST | Updated - 28 May 2018, 14:13 IST

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It was a night of reckoning for both the teams, as they came through grand in the group stages of the tournament. It was a battle between experience and youth, it was a battle between a returning Super Kings and a strongly present Sunrisers Hyderabad.

While Kane Williamson’s men would have loved to have their hands on the franchise’s second IPL trophy, MS Dhoni’s men had other plans. After electing to bowl first, the Super Kings had done a pretty decent job in containing the orange army to a total of under 180 runs. However, with the bowling unit that Sunrisers have got, any score above 160 looked threatening.

With Shane Watson out of touch and form for the Super Kings, it was a matter of Bhuvaneshwar Kumar over to knock the Australian out. However, unlike the previous match, Watson stayed careful, patient and played like a man with a purpose. He pushed out ten deliveries, while his score-card read a single digit.

For a man, who thought nothing would get worse than the 2017 IPL, the start of this match was getting to him in the nerve. The right-hander struggled, bruised, dejected with the ball not meeting the leafy part of the bat. It nearly seemed like a decade since Watson last connected the ball, inside the mind of the right-handed batsman.

Watson comes to the party

However, he rose to the occasion and played like the stage belonged to him after all. Watson quickly knocked the ball ever-so-powerfully to all parts of the ground with the bowlers now looking cluelessly like Watson did in the first half of the powerplay. Watson scored a match-winning 117 runs off just 57 deliveries, with 11 fours and eight sixes.

Following the match, the right-hander stood a little away from the limelight as a glorious drive from Ambati Rayudu handed the Super Kings their third IPL title. While Rayudu screamed in celebratory mode, a drop of tear fell right across the cheeks of his non-striker Shane Watson.

Watson emotionalhttps://t.co/toAk89myJ1
— Faizal Khan (@faizalkhanm9) May 27, 2018

For Watson, this tournament was more than just a retirement fund, he had to prove that his career had not come to an end, which he kept as a possibility after the dismal season with the Royal Challengers Bangalore. A point to prove was on a show for the Australian, as CSK have completed the fairy-tale comeback.