Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], March 15 (ANI): Tillakaratne Dilshan once again led from the front as his all-round show saw Sri Lanka Legends to an emphatic six-wicket win over England in the Road Safety World Series T20 at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium on Sunday.
The Sri Lankans restricted England to a meagre 78 for nine in 20 overs with Dilshan scalping four for six. Following his match-winning spells against England, Dilshan produced a scintillating unbeaten half-century to see Sri Lanka home.
The Lankans chased down the target in 7.3 overs with Dilshan contributing with the bat, too, scoring an entertaining 61 not out from 26 balls 11 boundaries, and a six.
Russel Arnold hit the winning shot with a pull to seamer Chris Tremlett over the backward square leg for a boundary
Earlier, Sri Lanka after winning the toss chose to field first. Interestingly, Dilshan’s scalps included the top four English batsmen.
Openers Phil Mustard (0), Kevin Pietersen (1), Usman Afzaal (1), and Owais Shah (6) were the victims of Dilshan’s willy off-spinners.
On top of that, three were bowled while Mustard was trapped leg before wicket as England were found reeling at 22 for 5 after Shah’s dismissal.
The in-form Pietersen was the most prized wicket for the off-spinner. Pietersen, who has produced some master-class in the last few games, was castled when he went for an extravagant shot.
The English never got a partnership that was needed. However, a couple of cameos from Jim Troughton (18) and the beefy Chris Tremlett 22 (10b 3×6) were face-saving for them.
With this win, Sri Lanka, which is sharing 20 points with India, has now taken the top position in the standings, thanks to a better net run rate.
Meanwhile, England has lost their fourth position to West Indies, for now.
Brief scores: England Legends 78/9 in 20 overs (Chris Tremlett 22; Tillakaratne Dilshan 4/6, Rangana Herath 2/17) Sri Lanka 81/4 (Tillakaratne Dilshan 61*; Monty Panesar 4/26) (ANI)
