Nuwan Kulasekara’s brilliant spell with the ball and Chinthaka Jayasinghe’s sublime knock with the bat helped Sri Lanka Legends defeat South Africa Legends by 8 wickets in the semi-final of the Road Safety World Series.
After winning the toss, Sri Lanka Legends’ Skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan opted to field first, as expected with the confidence they have gained chasing down targets throughout the tournament.
Sri Lanka made one change to their playing XI, bringing in master blaster Sanath Jayasuriya to replace left-hander Malinda Warnapura.
Morne van Wyk and Andrew Puttick opened the innings for South Africa, but the latter could not stay at the crease for a longer period of time as he was dismissed by right-arm seamer Nuwan Kulasekara for no run.
Number three batsman Alviro Petersen then joined van Wyk at the middle and put on a 47-run partnership for the second wicket, setting the foundation for a good score on the board.
South Africa were 67 for 2 at the half-way stage of the innings, but they lost their way with a continuous fall of wickets at regular intervals and were restricted for just 125 runs. Kulasekara was the standout performer with the ball as he managed to pick up 5 wickets for 25 runs for Sri Lanka Legends.
Chasing a modest total of 126 runs to win, Sri Lanka Legends lost the in-form batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan early in the innings for 18 runs. However, opening batsman Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga steadied things at the middle, building a 39-run partnership for the second wicket.
At 59 for 2, Tharanga was joined by hard-hitting batsman Chinthaka Jayasinghe and they formed the match-winning partnership, guiding Sri Lanka Legends to victory in 17.2 overs.
Jayasinghe stroked a sublime knock of 47 runs off 25 balls with 8 fours and a six. Tharanga held one end playing a patient knock of 39 runs off 44 balls with 5 fours.
Sri Lanka Legends will meet India Legends in the final of Road Safety World Series, which will be held on the 21st of March at 7.00 PM Sri Lankan time.
Brief Scores
South Africa Legends 125 (20) Morne van Wyk 53, Alviro Peterson 27, Nuwan Kulasekara 5/25
Sri Lanka Legends 129/2 (17.2) Chinthaka Jayasinghe 47*, Upul Tharanga 39*, Alviro Peterson 1/15
Result – Sri Lanka Legends won by 8 wickets
