Shane Watson Recalls His Match-Winning 117* Against SRH In IPL 2018 Final

Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson recently recalled his match-winning 117* off 57 balls against SunRisers Hyderabad in the 2018 IPL final.

It was an incredible inning by Shane Watson; one that not only helped Chennai Super Kings win the title for the third time but it also helped him exorcise the demons of his nightmarish outing against the same opposition during 2016 final.

Watson, who was playing for the Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore at the time, had a shocker of a match in the 2016 IPL final as he gave away 61 runs in his quota of four overs besides managing a 9-ball 11 as SunRisers Hyderabad clinched the summit clash by 8 runs.

Two years, Shane Watson scripted his redemption with disdain as he smashed the SRH bowling unit to the tune of an unbeaten 117 off 57 balls to help CSK gun down the target of 179 and complete a fairytale come back after a gap of two years.

Recalling his match-winning knock during a recent interview with ESPNCricinfo, Shane Watson said that he had a point to prove after a shocker of a 2016 final and things fell in place for him nicely during that knock.

Throughout the season, I was batting better than I had been batting for a light time. I had a bit of confidence going into the final. Also, from my personal perspective, I had a point to prove from my previous experience of playing a final for RCB where I had an absolute shocker,” Watson recalled.

”And I suppose things just matched very nicely throughout that innings. It took me a little few balls to get my innings go. The way Hyderabad bowlers bowled, the ball was coming on to me at a time when I could really feel like I could line up a few of their bowlers,” Shane Watson added.

“And, once I got some momentum, just some bowling changes were made at the right time, where I really needed to go hard and I could feel I could line up those bowlers. My misses fell into the gaps. The ball really come out to the middle most of the times,” he added.

“Those little things went my way, which for an innings like that for a high-pressure match is something I look back at with quite a lot of fondness. It was a very special time of my career,” Shane Watson signed off.

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