On Friday, September 30, Dominant Sri Lanka Legends vs West Indies Legends faced off against each other for the second semi-final of the Road Safety World Series 2022. The game was played at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium. Sri Lanka Legends has shown us promising signs from the very start of the tournament and will look to go all the way to finals.
Previously we saw an epic saga between India Legends vs Australia Legends for the first semi-final. In that match, India Legends won against Australia and qualified for finals.
Stats of previous matches
In the first season of the Road Safety series, Sri Lanka Legends were the runners up. Now the team is coming into the big match on the back of a fantastic victory over Bangladesh Legends. As of now, Tillakaratne Dilshan led team have secured 4 wins in a total of 5 games.
On the other hand, West Indies Legends are coming on the back of a defeat against Australia Legends in their last match. In that match, Dwayne Smith and Kirk Edwards played quite well against the Australian team to help their team secure a decent total but their bowling members let the team down.
Sri Lanka Legends vs West Indies Legends: Lara won the toss and opt to bowl
Coming back to Friday’s game, the Toss was won by Brian Lara and West Indies Legends decided to bowl first. From the Sri Lanka Legends side, Mahela Udawatte along with Sanath Jayasuriya opened the batting. While Daren Powell attacks the stumps for West Indies Legends.
The first over started with Udawatte taking the charge against West Indies Legends bowler. On the other hand, his partner Sanath Jayasuriya took his time to get a good look at the wicket so far. The scoreboard at the time looked like Sri Lanka Legends 17/0 (1.3 Overs).
The 3rd over has started and Mahela Udawatte who was playing quite smoothly as of now was caught by Perkins. West Indies Legends finally break the deadlock and get their first success in the Power Play. Mahela who scored 15 runs off 11 balls went back to pavilion and skipper Dilshan walks into the middle now.
The 6th over was started, Sanath Jaysuriya who scored 26 runs off 18 balls was playing and once again West Indies got the wicket.
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Sri Lanka Legends now lost their second wicket in the Power Play. The scoreboard is 53/2 (6.1 overs). In the starting of 7th over, Upul Tharanga who scored 3 runs off 4 balls caught by Perkins. And just like that Sri Lanka lost third wickets in quick succession. While West Indies got back in the game with some brilliant performance from their bowlers.
The 7th over was still ongoing, and Sri Lanka Legends lost one more wicket as Dilshan who scored 8 runs off 12 balls caught by Taylor. Huge breakthrough for the West Indies Legends as Sri Lanka Legends skipper departs back pavilion with a low score card.
Sri Lanka looks in a tricky spot
The Sri Lanka Legends looked in a pretty bad state as they were losing one by another wicket. They even lost their skipper earlier than they would have imagined, now they are seriously in a tricky spot. The 10th begins, for the Sri Lanka Legends, Jayaratne and Chamara Silva are in the middle. West Indies have easily restricted the opponents top-order batters, now they are looking to restrict a total below 160. The scoreboard looks like 82/4 (10 Overs).
The 12th over begins, for the Sri Lanka side, Jeevan Mendis and Ishan Jayaratne performing quite well to get their team back in the game.
West Indies hunting to break partnership
On the other hand, West Indies were bowling attack to hunt for another wicket in order to break a fiery partnership. The scoreboard is 107/5 (12.2 Overs). It’s been 14th over, as of now the game was going quite fine however once again West Indies showed their bowling power as they took another wicket.
Sri Lanka lost another wicket as Jeevan Mendis who scored 25 runs off 15 balls caught by Bishoo. Now Sri Lanka had 6 down with their run rate also dropping from the 12th over. The scoreboard looks like 126/6 (14.4 Overs).
It’s been 16th over, as of now Sri Lanka lost 8th wicket as Udana walks in the middle of the field to get some big shots to make a quick run rate. At this point, the scoreboard looks like 149/8 (16.5 Overs). The 20th over has finished and the Sri Lanka Legends finish the game with 172 runs on the board.
The team should be satisfied with their score as almost every player in their batting line-up contributed for this challenging target. The scoreboard as of now looks like 172/9 (20 Overs).
Sri Lanka Legends vs West Indies Legends: Windies Legends started the chase
West Indies Legends had to chase a target of 173. The team got off to a good start with their captain Brian Lara and Dwayne Smith opening the run chase with confidence. It was 2nd over, Sri Lanka Legends hunting for an early breakthrough. The scoreboard looks like 14/0 (2 Overs).
In the 6th over, West Indies lost their first wicket with skipper Brain Lara, however the team got off to a good start. Narsingh Deonarine walks in the middle as Lara goes back to the pavilion. The scoreboard looks like 44/1 (6 Overs).
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The 8th over has begun, and West Indies once again lost another wicket with Dwayne Smith who scored 23 runs off 24 balls. Smith LBW by Jayasuriya. West Indies lost both of their openers as Sri Lanka got the big point. On the very next ball, Kirk Edwards was also bowled by Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka Legends turned the table in the wink of an eye. Another wicket from West Indies gone. Now, the scoreboard looks like 65/3 (8.2 Overs).
It’s been 11 over, to secure their win in the game, West Indies still needed 90 runs in 54 balls with 6 wickets. As the team again lost their wicket. The team is in a tricky spot. At the moment the scoreboard looks like 83/4 (11 Overs).
West Indies needed 66 runs in last 4 overs
The 14th over completed, West Indies still needed 66 runs in 34 balls as Deonarine hit 50. Sri Lanka was still fishing for a wicket as both batters looked in a dangerous situation. The scoreboard looks like 112/4 (14 Overs). The 16th over has started, West Indies still needed 48 runs in 24 balls, the team is in a tight spot. As once again they lost another wicket. The scoreboard is now 125/5 (16 Overs).It’s been 17th over, and Sri Lanka did what they were looking for a while now, the team secured Deonarine’s wicket.
Narsingh Deonarine, who as of now secured 63 runs off 39 balls caught to Isuru Udana bowled by Kulasekara. Now West Indies is really in a tricky spot as the team still needed 33 runs off 15 balls with Taylor batting on 12 off 8. The scoreboard is 141/6 (17.3 Overs). The 19th over had begun, West Indies still needed 22 runs off the last over to qualify for the finals. Taylor is still playing in the middle with 12 runs off 10 balls along with Powell on 1 run off 3 balls. The scoreboard is 151/7 (19 Overs).
The 20th over was finally over, Sri Lanka Legends won the game by 14 runs as West Indies failed to chase their target of 173. Deonarine batted brilliantly but West Indies finished the game at 158/7 after 20 overs. Sri Lanka showed an all-round performance. The team has now secured the position in the finals of the Road Safety World Series.
As the Sri Lanka Legends have won the game now they will be facing the India Legends in the finals of Road Safety Series 2022.
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