Road Safety World Series 2020: Sri Lanka Legends beat Australia Legends by 7 runs

The all-round performance of the batsmen and bowlers saw the Sri Lanka Legends defeat the Australian Legends by seven runs in a thrilling match on Sunday (8 March) in the Road Match of the Road Safety World Series T20 tournament. For Australia Legends, Brad Hodge took 18 wickets, Xavier Doherty 28 and Jason Krejza took two wickets for 37 runs. Australia Legends started off chasing the target and had a very poor start and the team lost six wickets for 31 runs.

Although Nathan Reardon smashed 96 off 53 balls with the help of nine fours and five sixes, the Australian Legends team collapsed to 154 runs in 19.5 overs. For Sri Lanka, captain Tillakaratne Dilshan took three wickets for 35 runs while Rangana Herath and Farvez Maharuf took two wickets each.

Batting first after winning the toss, the Sri Lanka Legends team scored 161 for eight wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. For him, Romash Kaluvitarna scored the highest 30 runs while Chamara Kapugedara contributed 28 runs. The Sri Lankan legends team got off to a good start with skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan (18) and Romesh Kaluvitarna (30). Both added 34 runs in 3.4 overs. 

Dilshan was out on this sum. Dilshan hit four boundaries in his 14-ball innings. Dilshan's wicket was taken by Javier Dorthy. Marvan Attapattu (14), who came to replace Dilshan, also started showing his hands as soon as he came but he could not prolong his innings. Attapattu was bowled by Javier Dorthy on a grand total of 51.

Now Chamara Kapudegara (28) came to support Kalu. Both played closely and took the score closer to 100. Kalu was out on the total of 98 before the team could score a century. Kalu was trapped lbw by Mark Kosgrove. Kalu faced 26 balls and hit five fours.

Two runs were added to the total so that Kapugedara also kept going. Chamara was dismissed by Jason Kraja for a total of 100. Chamara faced 18 balls and hit three fours and a six. The wicket of Upul Chandana (5) fell to a total of 105.

Sachitra Senanayake scored 13 while Ajanta Mendis scored 17 to help the team in good condition. Senanayake hit a four and a six off seven balls while Mendis hit two fours in 18 balls. Farvez Mahroof remained unbeaten on 20 runs. Dorthy, Krejza and Brad Hodge took two wickets each from Australia Legends.