Suresh Raina jubilant as Chennai Super Kings bag their third IPL title

The stage was set for the grand finals, and it was down to the two teams that finished on the top of the table. Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, who finished second and first on the table were destined to meet each other in the finals.

Having beaten the Sunrisers thrice before this encounter, all the odds were in favour of the Super Kings. While the odds were in favour, history did not support the Super Kings as the teams which have defeated the other finalists thrice before the finals tend to lose in the final of the tournament.

After winning the toss, Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni elected to bowl first in the crunch-encounter in Mumbai. Statistics did not favour the men-in-yellow, as the sides batting first in the finals have always had the edge over the side chasing.

With Sunrisers having defended the total in their previous encounter, all odds were stacked against the seven-time finalists. Batting first, the Sunrisers managed to get to a huge total of 178 runs at the end of their 20 overs.

179 was always a huge score in the finals and considering Sunrisers bowling unit, many deemed this total as a defending total. With the start that the Sunrisers got through Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Sandeep Sharma, it is safe to say the bookies would have relied heavily on the Sunrisers to take the title home.

Super Raina with his 3rd IPL title

However, the Super Kings had a different plan, out came a dashing Suresh Raina who alongside Shane Watson ensured that the Sunrisers were never in the game from the fifth over of the innings. A Watson hundred in the finals meant that the Super Kings got to their third IPL title.

Alongside the Super Kings, the other person to get to a third IPL title was none other than the southpaw Suresh Raina. Raina’s 2018 IPL was a mixed bag, with the left-hander scoring runs at a decent average. However, the form that Raina has exhibited in the past was a tad missing, with his strike-rate becoming a tad slower.

A jubilant Raina tweeted out “Cannot express my feelings! It’s been a wonderful season for us & a fitting finish by @ShaneRWatson33. A well constructed innings from him today & inspiring captaincy from @msdhoni right from game one takes us to our 3rd title.A big thank you to all our supporters#WhistlePodu” following Super Kings’s victory in the IPL final.

Cannot express my feelings! It's been a wonderful season for us & a fitting finish by @ShaneRWatson33. A well constructed innings from him today & inspiring captaincy from @msdhoni right from game one takes us to our 3rd title.A big thank you to all our supporters🙏#WhistlePodu pic.twitter.com/lZfWqUWi9j

— Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) May 27, 2018

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