Yusuf Pathan help India Legends claim Road Safety World Series Title

The nostalgia was dialled up to the max throughout the last three weeks as the world was able to see the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Kevin Pietersen, Sanath Jayasuriya and Virender Sehwag for one last time in the Road Safety World Series. It was an incredible tournament with plenty of outstanding performances from the superstars of yesteryear. Eventually, it was the Indian Legends emerged that as champions as they beat the Sri Lanka Legends in the final by 14 runs to win the inaugural Road Safety World Series.

Yusuf Pathan – the man who previously won the Man of the Match in the inaugural IPL final in 2008 – was once again the star of the final as he smashed a 36 ball 62 in the 1st innings before bowling a tidy spell of 2-26 off his four overs to help India legends seal the title.

After winning the toss for the eighth consecutive time in the series, Tillakaratne Dilshan put the India Legends into bat. Dilshan opted to open with the spin of Herath and Jayasuriya which was effective in stifling the Indian openers. Sehwag was dismissed while charging down the track to Herath while Badrinath missed a straight one from Jayasuriya to leave India at 46-2 in the powerplay. Tendulkar and Yuvraj were able to stitch together a small partnership but the Little Master eventually fell while trying to play a scoop shot.

Tendulkar’s dismissal however brought Yusuf Pathan to the crease who put on a six-hitting masterclass alongside Yuvraj Singh. The pair of them combined to hit nine 6s as they both scored quickfire half-centuries to take India Legends to a competitive total of 181 in the 20 overs.

In their reply, Sri Lanka Legends got off to a great start thanks to the leading run-scorer of the series Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya. The pair of them rolled back the years to help Sri Lanka score 58 runs in the powerplay which gave them a sniff in the chase. However, the India legends hit back through the Pathan brothers who picked up the Sri Lanka top four between themselves to leave them reeling at 92-4. Jayasinghe and Weeratne put together a 64-run partnership for the fifth wicket but the chase was one rung too high on the ladder and the Sri Lanka Legends eventually lost the final by 14 runs.