IPL: 6 players who scored a century for CSK

A century in the shortest format is definitely a special one. It is an achievement every cricketer craves for. It will be remembered by the cricketing fraternity forever if a player scores a century in the Indian Premier League.

A lot of hundreds have been scored in the history of IPL, 48 to be particular, by 30 different players. The first century in the IPL was scored on the first match of the IPL itself, when the league made its debut on 18 April 2008. It was scored by Brendon McCullum of New Zealand who scored 158* off 73 playing for Kolkata Knight Riders playing against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Chennai Super Kings is arguably one of the most successful teams and has won 3 titles, all under the leadership of Indian Stalwart Skipper, MS Dhoni. Here are the 6 players who scored a century playing for the Chennai Super Kings.

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#6 Brendon McCullum - 100* off 56 vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 11th April 2015

The first player to hit an IPL century has also scored a century playing for the Chennai Super Kings. In the IPL 2015 season, Brendon McCullum scored a 100* off 56 to lead Chennai to a huge victory. It was in Chennai against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The Kings won the toss and chose to bat first in the fourth match of the season. Spearheaded by Bhuvaneswar Kumar, the Sunrisers had one of the best bowling attacks in the IPL that season. McCullum destroyed the SRH's bowling attack and hit sixes all around the park. He hit 9 sixes and 7 fours and scored 82 out of his 100 runs in the form of boundaries. Due to McCullum's heroics, the CSK have scored 209 runs in their 20 overs for the loss of 4 wickets. MS Dhoni made some key contribution in the end and chipped in with 53 off 29.

No one could get it going for the SRH other than their skipper David Warner as he scored 53 off 42 balls and the SRH could only get to 164 for the loss of six wickets in their allotted 20 overs and CSK went on to win the game by 45 runs. McCullum was rightly adjudged the man of the match.

#5 Ambati Rayudu - 100* off 62 vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 13th May 2018

Ambati Rayudu

Ambati Rayudu is currently in the form of his life and is one of the main reasons why CSK were able to make an epic comeback into the IPL after being away from the league for two years, and finally capture the title. In the 16 matches, Rayudu has scored 602 runs at a strike rate of 149.75. He hit 3 half-centuries and a century.

In the 46th match of the IPL 2018 season, the CSK were pitted against the Sunrisers. CSK won the toss and chose to bowl first. The SRH bowling line up was filled with fierce bowlers in the form of Rashid Khan, Bhuvaneswar Kumar. SRH 179/4 in the 20 overs, behind Dhawan's 49-ball 79. Skipper Kane Williamson had a half-century scoring 51 off 39.

In return, CSK got off to a blazing start as both its openers, Rayudu and Shane Watson murdered the SRH's bowling attack. The CSK had a first wicket partnership of 134 before Watson got run-out. Rayudu hit 7 sixes and 7 fours in the game and got to his maiden century in the IPL in the 19th over with a single. He remained unbeaten on 100 and CSK beat SRH quite convincingly.

#4 Michael Hussey - 116 off 54 vs King XI Punjab, 19th April 2008

Michael Hussey

Michael Hussey, who is known popularly as Mr. Cricket, has played in 7 seasons of the IPL. He was known for his playing days with the Chennai Super Kings. In the inaugural season of IPL, Hussey scored a century against Kings XI Punjab and played a key role in the team's huge win.

It was the second match of the inaugural season, McCullum scored the first century, just a night before this one. CSK won the toss and chose to bat in Mohali. CSK lost their first wicket early at 26 when Brett Lee sent Parthiv Patel back. Hussey who walked in at No.3 went on to produce one of his greatest T20 innings as he scored an unbeaten 116 runs off 54 balls with 8 sixes and 8 fours. CSK went on to post a mammoth total of 240/5 in 20 overs.

Kings XI Punjab in return, behind James Hopes' 71 off 33 looked like they were going to chase it down but there was no one besides Hopes who got it going and that meant 240 was too much to handle for Punjab as they lost the game by 33 runs.

#3 Suresh Raina - 100* off 53 vs Kings XI Punjab, 2nd May 2013

Suresh Raina

Suresh Raina is one of the most successful cricketers in the history of IPL. He is the leading run-scorer in the IPL with 4985 runs in 172 innings. He is the only cricketer in IPL history to score more than 300-runs in each season.

In the 45th match of the IPL 2013 season, it was the battle of Kings as CSK faced KXIP. CSK won the toss and chose to bat at Chepauk. CSK lost its first wicket early in the 4th over when the score was 27 as Saha got sent back to the pavilion by Awana. Suresh Raina who then walked in destroyed the Punjab bowlers and single-handedly carried the score to 186/4 in 20 overs. His innings was filled with shots all around the ground. He hit 7 overs and 7 sixes to reach his century. He finished at 100* off 53.

Punjab in return, almost chased it down, thanks to Shaun Marsh's 73 off 51 and David Miller's 51 off 26. In the final over, with 19 overs needed, Bravo sent Marsh and Gurukeerat back to pavilion in first two deliveries and Punjab lost the match by 15 runs.

#2 Murali Vijay - 127 off 56 vs Rajasthan Royals, 3rd April 2010 / 113 off 58 vs Delhi Daredevils, 25th May 2012

Murali Vijay

Murali Vijay is one of the few fortunate players to have a century in IPL. Then, he is more fortunate to have hit a century not once but twice. Murali Vijay has scored two centuries and both of them resulted in CSK winning big. His first century came when he scored 127 off 56 balls with a strike rate of 226.78 against the Rajasthan Royals in 2010. He, along with Albie Morkel stitched a partnership of 152 runs as CSK posted a huge total of 246/5 in 20 overs. In return, RR scored 223/5 in 20 overs, behind Naman Ojha's 55-ball 94 and Watson's 25-ball 60.

His second century came when he scored 113 off 58 balls against the Delhi Daredevils in 2012. This innings was filled with fours as he hit 15 of them and 4 sixes. The Kings went on to post 222/5 in 20 overs.

In return, DD could only score a mere 136 and were all-out in 16.5 overs. Murali Vijay deservingly won the man of the match award on both the occasions.

#1 Shane Watson - 106 off 57 vs Rajasthan Royals, 20th April 2018 / 117* off 57 vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 27th May 2018

Shane Watson

Well, this should not come as a surprise to anyone. It is Shane Watson who is No.1 on this list. Shane Watson is one of the best all-rounders in the history of IPL. He has scored 4 centuries with the bat in the most prestigious tournament. Two of those centuries have come during his time with the Chennai Super Kings.

His first century for CSK came in the IPL 2018 season during the 17th match of the tournament. RR won the toss and chose to bowl in Pune. Shane Watson exploded with 9 fours and 6 sixes as he scored 106 off 57 balls and took CSK 204/5 in 20 overs. RR in return got bundled out for 140 runs in 18.3 overs.

The second century will forever be a memorable one, for Watson, for CSK fans and cricket fans all around the world. It came in the 2018 season finals against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Sunrisers, who came to bat after losing the toss, set CSK a target of 179 runs.

For CSK, it was all Shane Watson as he single-handedly destroyed the SRH's bowling attack with shots all over the park. He annihilated the Sunrisers as he hit 117* off 57 balls with 11 fours and 8 sixes. Thanks to his innings, CSK chased down the total in 18.3 overs and won their 3rd IPL title and completed a grand re-entry into the IPL.