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Sri Lanka Legends have turned out to be a dominating force in the ongoing Road Safety World Series T20 2022. Against Sanath Jayasuriya, England Legends batters did not know what to do and threw their wickets one by one. On a Kanpur pitch that assisted spinners, 53-year-old Jayasuriya took four wickets in his quota of four overs. Not only he broke the back of England Legends batting lineup but he conceded just three runs while doing it.
Mal Loye did not have a clue as he awkwardly stepped out and failed to make contact with the ball. Similarly, Darren Maddy got stumped out as well. Tim Ambrose was left clueless too as he got out for a four-ball duck. Hard-hitting Dimitri Mascarenhas could not read Jayasuriya's bowling too and got out after scoring just one run from five balls.
As a result, England Legends got all out for 78 in 19 overs. The top-scorer for them was skipper Ian Bell, who scored 15 runs from 24 deliveries. Interestingly, England Legends got all out for 78 in the previous season as well against Sri Lanka. 78 is the lowest total in the short history of the tournament.
In a low-scoring run chase, Sri Lankan openers struggled to get going as well. The centurion of the previous game, Tillakaratne Dilshan could not hit too many boundaries in the powerplay overs. Dilshan scored 15 runs from 21 deliveries and got stumped out to left-arm spinner Stephen Parry.
However, with a clear target in sight, Sri Lankan batters did not panic. Wicketkeeper-batter Upul Tharanga scored 19-ball 23 to make the equation easier for his side. Dilshan Munaweera got out to Dimitri Mascarenhas after scoring 24 runs from 43 deliveries.
However, the required run rate was not threatening enought to cause a collapse. In the 15th over, Jeevan Mendis hit the winning runs. Sri Lanka won the game by seven wickets with 33 balls to spare. Jayasuriya was awarded 'Player of the match' for his exceptional spell.
