Road Safety World Series 2022: India Legends beat South Africa Legends by 61 runs

India Legends started their Road Safety World Series 2022 campaign on a winning note by defeating South Africa Legends by 61 runs at the Green Park in Kanpur.

After winning the coin toss, India Legends captain Sachin Tendulkar elected to bat first on a good-looking batting track. The decision to bat first proved right by the top-order batters. Openers Sachin Tendulkar and Naman Ojha gave the India Legends a good start as they put up a stand of 46 runs in 5.2 overs. 

Tendulkar (16) started well but his innings was cut short at 16 when he was taken by Johan Botha off a Makhaya Ntini delivery. Soon after Tendulkar, Ojha also departed in the seventh over to leave India Legends 52 for 2. 

Despite getting a steady start, the Indian legends were forced on the backfoot with two quick wickets. Suresh Raina and Stuart Binny forged a crucial 50+ runs partnership to get the innings back on track before Yusuf Pathan finished the innings by scoring a quickfire 15-ball 35 to take the India Legends to a total of 217/4.

Indian spinners starred with ball

Chasing a mammoth total of 218 was an uphill task but South Africa Legends kicked off their chase in a good manner with 34 on board without losing any of the two openers. Despite the target being huge, it seems like the Proteas want to keep their wickets intact before going all guns blazing, but the idea failed as they eventually lost Morne Van Wyk in the last over of the powerplay. 

The spin duo of Rahul Sharma and Pragyan Ojha kept chipping in with wickets in the middle overs to keep the Proteas Legends in check. South Africa continued losing wickets to Indian spin, with Ojha trapping Alviro Petersen for just 10 after he was stumped by Naman Ojha.

Then, Henry Davids’s wicket was taken by Yuvraj Singh. Davids could only score six runs. More than halfway into the match, South Africa was 4/90. From that point, the South Africa Legends couldn't recover and eventually ended their innings at 156/9.

Leg spinner Rahul Sharma starred with the ball snapping up 3 wickets for 17 runs while Munaf Patel and Pragyan Ojha contributed with 2 wickets each. Irfan Pathan and Yuvraj Singh got one wicket each. South Africa skipper Jonty Rhodes ended as top-scorer for his side with 38 off 27 balls.           

Brief Scores

India Legends: 214/4 (20)
Stuart Binny 82* (42), Yusuf Pathan 35* (15)
Johan Wath 28/2

South Africa Legends: 156/9 (20)
Jonty Rhodes 38 (27), Morne van Wyk 26 (24)
Rahul Sharma 17/3, Munaf Patel 24/2

India Legends won by 61 runs

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