Road Safety World Series Final Highlights: India beat Sri Lanka to lift trophy

Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar-led India Legends won the final of the Road Safety World Series on Sunday, beating Sri Lanka Legends by 14 runs. 2011 World Cup-winning all-rounders Yuvraj Singh and Yusuf Pathan helped India Legends clinch the first-ever title of the Road Safety World Series at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur. India Legends had reached the final after beating West Indies Legends by 12 runs on March 17. 

Match highlights

In the series finale, Sri Lanka Legends, who had beaten South Africa Legends on Friday to proceed to the final, won the toss and elected to bowl first. India Legends lost its opener Virender Sehwag in the second over, followed by one more quick wicket before Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh forged a partnership. Tendulkar made an important 30 off 23 balls before going back to the pavilion. 

Yusuf Pathan entered the field and started smacking from the very first ball. Yusuf and Yuvraj took India Legends to a comfortable position as both all-rounders smashed half-centuries. Yuvraj scored 60 off 41 balls at a strike rate of 146.34, while Yusuf top-scored with 62 not-out off just 36 deliveries, including 5 sixes and four boundaries to his name. After the end of the first innings, the scoreboard read 181-4 in 20 overs. 

Sri Lanka Legends came in to bat in the second innings and looked formidable as the opening partners formed a partnership of 62 runs. Yusuf Pathan provided a breakthrough by taking the wicket of Sri Lankan skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan, who was also the top run-scorer and wicket-taker in the tournament. After the first wicket fell, Sri Lankan batting-line up started to plummet like a house of cards as Yusuf and his younger brother Irrfan Pathan took two consecutive wickets. 

For Sri Lanka Legends, Sanath Jayasuriya and Chinthaka Jayasinghe scored most runs in the final. Jayasuriya hit 35-ball 43 and Jayasinghe scored 30-ball 40. However, India bowlers were able to keep Sri Lankan batsmen on their feet at all time during the match, restricting them for 167-7, thus winning the game by 14 runs. 

(Image Credit: RSWorldSeries/Twitter)