IPL 2018, Final, CSK vs SRH: 5 talking points

#1 Shane Watson recovers from a slow start to blow SRH away

Watson started off slowly but recovered brilliantly to take the game away from SRH

Shane Watson had a very slow start to his innings tonight, failing to score off the first ten deliveries he faced, and it had an effect on the required run-rate which had crossed the 10rpo mark.

It also cost CSK Faf du Plessis' wicket, who was the match-winner for CSK against SRH in Qualifier 1 on Monday.

But, considering Watson's experience, it was vital that he didn't give away his wicket and it was a given that the Australian can always make up for the slow start with his brute power and big-hitting skills.

That's exactly what Watson did, as he slowly but surely got over his early struggles to get adjusted to the pace of the wicket and get the scoring going, with a knock that was laced with boundaries.

Running between the wickets has never been one of Watson's biggest strengths and the Australian never bothered to go that way tonight, as he hit eleven fours and as many as eight sixes in his unbeaten knock of 117 runs off 57 balls.

His big-hitting demoralized the SRH bowling line-up and not even Rashid Khan could put a stop on the Watson juggernaut. The 27-run over by Watson off Sandeep Sharma in the 13th over of the CSK innings, all but sealed the match and thereby the IPL title in their favour.