IPL 2018 Final Highlights CSK vs SRH As it happened: Shane Watson hundred wins third IPL title for CSK

Shane Watson gets to his hundred with an easy single. This is his second IPL 2018 ton and this has been a brillaint knock under pressure. CSK lost early wicket in the chase but Watson kept his cool

Ambati Rayudu bring the required rate down to less than six an over with a maximum over covers. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been brilliant today but Rayudu's form is something to watch out for

Another one from Shane Watson and this time it's Carlos Brathwaite at the receiving end. A back of a length delivery from Brathwaite and Watson sends it in the stands to move to 97

Suresh Raina has to go after his gloves kisses the ball and the wicket-keeper takes a good catch. Cralos Brathwaite bowled a short delivery and Raina just tried to pull that one but didn't connect well. He goes for 32

Shane Watson moves to 82 off 44 with a maximum. First It was a knuckle ball from Sandeep Sharma and Watson hammers that one away for a maximum. The Australian batsman follows it with another one and this time it has gone over cow corner. The third one went over the long on boundary

Chennai Super Kings are in cruise control in 179-run chase against Sunrisers Hyderabad. It has been a brilliant partnership between Raina and Watson. Watso has been clinical after he got his eye in

Suresh Raina joins the party with Shane Watson and he dispatches his first maximum over long off boundary. CSK are going well in this run chase and need to carry this momentum forward

So we are in the final 10 overs of the Indian Premier League 2018 and CSK need 99 off 60 balls. They have nine wickets in hands with Watson and Raina out there in the middle. Watson meanwhile brings up his half century with a maximum

Shane Watson has taken on Siddarth Kaul in this over and he has been hammering the medium pace bowler all around the park. After 9 overs, CSK are 72/1 with Watson and Raina at the crease

Chennai Super Kings need a good and solid partnership to get over the line and a lot depends upon this pair. Watson looked under some pressure earlier in the innings but he is showing his class now

A brilliant flick hit from Shane Watson off Siddarth Kaul. He timed that shot with perfection and Watson is gaining back the momentum in Mumbai. He needs to stay at the crease till the end

This has been a good strat for Sunrisers Hyderabad except for the sixth over where Sandeep Sharma gave away few runs. The two bowlers gave just 20 runs in the first five overs

Sandeep Sharma finally has a wicket and it's a big one for SRH. Faf du Plessis has to depart for 10 as Sandeep takes a good catch off his own bowling. He tried to come down the track but that was a slower one from Sharma and Faf totally mis times that shot. CSK lose first for 16

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is showing his class. He has given 5 runs in 2 overs. Sandeep Sharma is also looking in good touch. He is asking questions from the batsmen with every delivery

Chennai Super Kings were in deep trouble the last time they faced Sunrisers Hyderabad. In the Qualifier 1, they had lost 6 wickets in chase of 148 but Faf du Plessis turned out to be their hero when he hit 72* in the chase to lead CSK to a win and the final. Can he take CSK to their third IPL title?

Chennai Super Kings begin the chase with Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis. Bhuvneshwar Kumar begins the proceedings with the new ball and he is up for the task straight away. He starts with a maiden over

Sunrisers Hyderabad finished their innings at 178/6 after Brathwaite struck a six on the penultimate ball of the 20th over. SRH scored 10 runs in the last over bowled by Shardul Thakur. CSK need 179 to win their third IPL title. If they achieve the target, CSK will become the third team after MI to lift third IPL title but if SRH restrict the opposition, they would be the fourth team to win it more than once. SRH won in 2016.

Yusuf Pathan has been in brilliant touch in this game. He has hammered the bowlers all around the park and has moved to 41 in 21 balls. Wickets have gone down around Pathan but the right-hander has carried the momentum for SRH

Shakib al Hasan departed after an amazing grab by Suresh Raina off Dwayne Bravo and with this we head towards the second timeout of the innings. SRH are still in control at 133/4 

Karn Sharma scalped the wicket of Kane Williamson but SRH are still in command with Shakib al Hasan and Yusuf Pathan at the crease. Williamson danced down the track on a tossed up delivery that went away from him and Dhoni  completed the stumping

Shikhar Dhawan departs after getting clenaed up by Ravindra Jadeja for 26. The left-hander was looking good but missed a sweep stroke on a straight delivery and it eventually dismantled the wood work behind him

Kane Williamson ends the 8th over with a maximum and we have the first strategic timeout of the final. Dwyane Bravo had kept Shikhar Dhawan silent on the first four deliveries. He pitched the ball in perfect areas and Dhawan failed to read the line and length. But Williamson's form is such that you can't really help. He smacks a boundary through covers and then puts a low full toss away ro fine leg boundary for a six. PURE CLASS from the New Zealand skipper

Sunrisers Hyderabad have started the innings in a decent manner. They have scored 42 losing the wicket of Goswami who was sent back in the hut for 5 after getting run out. Meanwhile Kane Williamson has become the fifth player to score 700 IPL run in one edition. CHris Gayle, Mike Hussey, David Warner and Virat Kohli have achieved the feat before him. Kohli holds the record of maximum number of runs in a single season. He scored 973 in 2016 season

For ball by ball updates of the summit clash between Chennsai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad visit CSK vs SRH

Sunrisers Hyderabad have started to accelerate and it's the man in form Kane Williamson. He first smacked Chahar for a six over backward square leg boundary and has now hit him for a boundary

Chennai Super Kings have the first wicket and this is a big one. Shreevats Goswami departs for 5 after getting run out by Karn Sharma. 

Sunrisers Hyderabad begin the proceedings. They are 6/0 with Shreevats Goswami and Shikhar Dhawan at the crease. Chahar got a wicket on the very first delivery of the match in the last encounter but this time he starts with a no ball. SRH lost to CSK in the qualifier match

Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(w/c), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Lungi Ngidi

SRH XI: S Dhawan, S Goswami, K Williamson, S Al Hasan, D Hooda, Y Pathan, C Brathwaite, R Khan, B Kumar, S Kaul, Sandeep Sharma

Chenai Super Kings won the toss and they have elected to bowl first. There was a slight confusion during the toss about the call but CSK will be bowling first. 

We are all set for the final between Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad

Build up for big final and it’s steaming! ?? @StarSportsIndia @IPL #IPLfinal2018 #CSKvSRH pic.twitter.com/U4eEyOUPBz

— Graeme Smith (@GraemeSmith49) 27 May 2018

David Warner has a special message for his Sunrisers side!

 

?Good luck to our #orangearmy tonight. Come on @SunRisers ?let’s raise the bar and go one more. ?? @candywarner1

A post shared by David Warner (@davidwarner31) on May 27, 2018 at 5:13am PDT

Nothing better than the anticipation of a final, @SunRisers ready to deliver in Mumbai! ?#OrangeArmy #IPL2018Final

— Tom Moody (@TomMoodyCricket) May 27, 2018

Who do you have as favourites for the final? CSK or SRH?

I believe #CSK is the more fancied team tonight, their return has been one of the stories of the #IPL, but they will be aware that in a knockout, you could lose if 15 minutes go the other way. #CSKFavourites

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 27, 2018

Before the players go through the paces and the toss takes place, Bollywood celebrites will dazzle the lucky fans in attendance at the Wankhede. You can follow the closing ceremony live

Sunrisers Hyderabad Team news: Sunrisers Hyderabad put an end to a four match losing streak by beating Kolkata Knight Riders in the second qualifier. But issues persist. KKR were coasting in that contest until Rashid Khan turned things around. Given Hooda's lack of form, Manish Pandey could come in. Khaleel Ahmed was brought in but failed to make much of an impact while proving to be expensive. That could well see Sandeep Sharma back into the side

Dhoni was asked on Harbhajan in the press-conference on Saturday. And he had an epic response. Kane Williamson, sitting alongside, chimed in too! 

Q: How tough is it to not give the ball to Harbhajan a bit more? ?
MSD: I have lots of cars & bikes in my house, I don't ride them all at a time.??‍?
Kane: How many do you have? ?

The 2 captains, everyone! Keep watching #KentCricketLIVE on Star Sports! #WorldsToughestFinal pic.twitter.com/pGHMtrlswm

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) May 27, 2018

Chennai Super Kings Team news: CSK have been a strong unit and have a well-set side that has reached the final with little fuss. Harbhajan Singh didn't get to bowl in the last game but expect him to be more involved now. Karn Sharma may come in should CSK look to bolster the spin options. However, it seems unlikely to tinker at this stage.

Have a question about the IPL Final? We have you covered. Still have some questions? Send it our way on @IExpressSports on Twitter or our Facebook page  

RCB skipper Virat Kohli isn't here and he's unfortunately not going to play for Surrey either but India captain is working towards getting fit for England. His fitness test is on June 15

Can't weights yet but can run instead! ?? Find a way even on a Sunday! ? pic.twitter.com/hDQoCjIF4N

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) May 27, 2018

With the final just a few hours away, there must be some burning questions in everyone's mind regarding today's match. Do you wish there was a way to get answers to all the questions? If yes, then we have you sorted - Click on the link below for a quick guide to today's final:

Everything you need to know about the CSK vs SRH final match

Yellow versus Orange tonight. Good luck to both teams for the much awaited final. Good to see the top two teams fighting it out for glory. Who is your pick? #IPL2018Final

— R P Singh (@rpsingh) May 27, 2018

Here are the predicted Playing 11 of the IPL 2018 final between CSK and SRH

Predicted Playing XI: Faf du Plessis, Shane Watson, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (C & wk), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Lungi Ngidi

Predicted Playing XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Manish Pandey/Deepak Hooda, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib al Hasan, Carlos Brathwaite, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddharth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed/Sandeep Sharma

With just hour remaining for the IPL final between CSK and SRH to begin, all the cricketers are excited for the big clash and are eagerly awaiting the start of the match. Here is what some of the players have to say about tonight's final:

It might be #CSKvsSRH in the finals today, but the match happens at the home of cricket, Wankhede. You just can't keep Mumbai out of the game. #ProudMumbaikar #IPL2018Final

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjumanju218) May 27, 2018

IPL final..... come on @ChennaiIPL! This is going to be incredible. Been great to be a part of such a awesome franchise and would love to finish as champions! #CSKvsSRH #IPLFinal #T20

— David Willey (@david_willey) May 27, 2018

Winner takes all. The #FINAL @IPL @ChennaiIPL @SunRisers pic.twitter.com/9AaKQna2gX

— Anjum Chopra (@chopraanjum) May 27, 2018

Big Game Tonight ? keep supporting @SunRisers this is the time to show your love towards us #GoOrangeArmy #ipl11 #Finals #srhvscsk ?

— Khaleel Ahmed (@imK_Ahmed) May 27, 2018

Good luck to both teams in the IPL final tonight, here’s my “All star team” from this years IPL
Butler
Rahul
Virat
Pant
Dhoni
Pandya
Russell
R.Khan
Tye
Kuldeep
Bumra
Agree ? I think CSK will win !

— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) May 27, 2018

Good luck to both teams in the @IPL final tonight. Our @RCBTweets boys would love to have been there but both @ChennaiIPL and @SunRisers have been the best two teams throughout the season. Expecting a ripping final! @SPFleming7 or Kane. I’m torn! All the best lads.

— Brendon McCullum (@Bazmccullum) May 27, 2018

Big game tonight ? back the #orangearmy . Let’s go??

— Shreevats goswami (@shreevats1) May 27, 2018

If Sunrisers want to thank one person for taking them to the final, they need look no further than Rashid Khan. The Afghanistan leggie hammered 34 runs in 10 balls and recorded figures of 3/19 against KKR in the Qualifier 2, and helped his side in attaining a massive win. Even Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani applauded the youngster for his feats. 

Afghans take absolute pride in our hero, Rashid Khan. I am also thankful to our Indian friends for giving our players a platform to show their skills. Rashid reminds us whats best about Afg. He remains an asset to the cricketing world. No we are not giving him away. @narendramodi

— Ashraf Ghani (@ashrafghani) 25 May 2018

CSK's Suresh Raina has had yet another good season with the bat in the IPL. The left-handed batsman holds the record for scoring the joint fastest fifty in the IPL final. The 31-year old did so in 2010. Can he repeat the performance tonight?

Nostalgia filled knock with a record to add the flavour. Joint fastest fifty in an IPL final from Chinna Thala in 2010. #WhistlePodu #Yellove #YelloveFinals #CSKvSRH ?? pic.twitter.com/AAae5N2hkM

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) 27 May 2018

On the other fun side of things, the twitterati loves to feed on anything and showcase their creativity with memes. The IPL 2018 final between CSK and SRH is another opportunity for the fans to spread memes. Follow all the crazy and hillarious memes on the final HERE.

On the fun side of things, before the start of the play between Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, there will be star-studded Closing Ceremony that will see some of the biggest B-town celebrities. Salman Khan, Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif will be at the event. 

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Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni lamented the fact that the franchise, which returned after a span of two years, did not get too many games in Chennai. At a press conference on Saturday, Dhoni said: "The last two years we were not there but our fan following kept increasing, the fans were waiting for us to come back and start doing well. It’s unfortunate that we are not playing in Chennai, but as I said, being professional is more important."

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Chennai Super Kings continued to perform consistently throughout the season and never let the foot off the gas. A couple of defeats late down in the round robin stage made a few people question the CSK's bubble, but the side went on to reclaim three wins in a row on their way to the IPL final, and are now appearing as the favourites to lift the trophy.

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Sunrisers Hyderabad finished in the top spot in the round robin stage with 18 points in 14 games and a higher Net Run Rate than Chennai Super Kings. But in spite of the good form, they lost four in a row on the road to the finals, only to make a return against Kolkata Knight Riders in the second Qualifier. All thanks to Afghanistan teenage sensation, Rashid Khan.

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Hello and welcome to our Live Blog on CSK vs SRH IPL 2018 Final. Chennai Super Kings is all set to compete in their 7th final of the Indian Premier League. Much has been talked about their consistency in the tournament over the years. Some joke that IPL has become a tournament where 7 teams play to decide who will compete with CSK in the final. Well, this time it is Sunrisers Hyderabad, who have come out on top - among others. The side led by Kane Williamson defeated Kolkata Knight Riders in the Qualifier 2, with the help of an allround performance by Afghanistan's teenage sensation Rashid Khan. Now, both the teams have the trophy within their sight - all they need to do is triumph at the final stage. Who will come out on top.