Road Safety World Series: India Legends to face Sri Lanka Legends in final

Tillakaratne Dilshan's Sri Lankans were always the favourites on paper and they lived up to their potential and form, and romped home to a comfortable win, chasing down the 126-run target with 16 balls to spare.

Raipur: In the second semifinal of the Road Safety World Series Sri Lanka Legends defeated South Africa Legends to seal their place in the final against India Legends here at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium here on Sunday.

India became the first semifinalist after beating West Indies Legends in a closely fought semifinal.

Tillakaratne Dilshan's Sri Lankans were always the favourites on paper and they lived up to their potential and form, and romped home to a comfortable win, chasing down the 126-run target with 16 balls to spare.

Riding on No.4 batsman Chinthaka Jayasinghe's 47 not out (25b, 8x4, 1x6) and left-hander Upul Tharanga's 39 not out (44b, 5x4) and their third-wicket partnership of 70 runs, Sri Lanka finished at 129 for the loss of two wickets in 17.2 overs. Captain and in-form Dilshan scored 18 and Sanath Jayasuriya, too, scored 18.

Earlier, Dilshan won the toss and elected to bowl first. The move clicked as the Lankans bowled out South Africans for 125 in 20 overs. Seamer Nuwan Kulasekara was the wrecker-in-chief for the Sri Lankans with five wickets for 25 runs. For South Africans, opener Morne van Wyk scored a half-century off 57 balls, including eight boundaries.

South Africa began on a positive note with Van Wyk giving a solid start, but the Lankans immediately put the brakes on the African surge as Kulasekara got in-form Andrew Puttick for a duck. Van Wyk got his maiden half-century of the tournament before Sri Lankan legend Sanath Jayasuriya got him trapped in front of the wickets for 53.

Once the opener went, it was like completing a formality for Sri Lanka. South Africa lost their seven wickets for 29 runs, thanks to Kulasekara's super spell.

Brief scores: South Africa 125 all out in 20 overs (Morne van Wyk 23, Alviro Petersen 27; Nuwan Kulasekara 5/25) lost to Sri Lanka Legends 129/2 in 17.2 overs (Upul Tharanga 39 not out, Chinthaka Jayasinghe 47 not out, Tillakaratne Dilshan 18, Sanath Jayasuriya 18) by 8 wickets.

IANS