Raipur: West Indies vs Sri Lanka matches in the 90s and early 2000s were a battle to watch out for.
It won’t be anything different in the Road Safety World Series T20 where the Legends of two teams will be at loggerheads in the second match of the legends tournament at Shaheed Veer Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in Raipur.
This game, however, will have more than one reason to watch and the most important would be to see the two greatest and dashing left-handed batsmen in international cricket returning to cricket and crossing swords.
West Indian great Brian Lara will once again try to compete and prove that he is more attractive and effective than his entertaining competitor Sanath Jayasuriya, the legend from Emerald Isle. Jayasuriya, on the other hand, would be keen to put up a show that would lit the stadium with his boundaries and sixes like he did in the past.
For cricket connoisseurs, this competition will bring back a lot of memories of the past. And more than that, it would be a test of some of the legends if they would be able to carry their best and 50-over class in act in the shortest and most glamorous format of the game i.e. Twenty20.
Going by T20 batting record, Jayasuriya has more experience and is quite an aggressor with 629 runs in 31 T20 internationals including four half centuries while Lara hasn’t played a single T20 international.
The overall record says, Jayasuriya, who has scored 13430 ODI runs, has scored 2317 runs in 111 with one century while Lara has scored 99 runs in three T20s with one half century and 65 being his highest.
Clearly, Jayasuriya has got the upperhand in T20s compared to Lara, but every game is fresh and the West Indian would be keen to outshine his Sri Lanka counterpart.
Coming to the side, Sri Lanka has a formidable line-up with limited-over legend Tillakratne Dilshan leading the men from the Island supported by some big names like Upul Tharanga, Russel Arnold, Chamra Silva, Nuwan Kulasekara, Rangana Herath and some more, apart from the legend Jayasuriya.
West Indies, on the other side, do have some big names but what they lack is some great T20 experience. All eyes will be on the T20 specialist and hard-hitting batsman Dwayne Smith, who have played for teams like Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings in IPL, to be the one to take the lead apart from captain Lara.
Teams
Sri Lanka Legends: Tillakratne Dilshan (C), Chamara Silva, Dulanjana Wijesinghe, Malinda Warnapura, Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Ajantha Mendis, Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Kulasekara, Rangana Herath, Thilan Thushara, Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Farveez Maharoof, Russel Arnold, Chamara Kapugedera
West Indies Legends: Brian Lara (C), Narsingh Deonarine, Adam Sanford, Dinanath Ramnarine, Pedro Collins, Ryan Austin, Suleiman Benn, Tino Best, Carl Hooper, Dwayne Smith, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Ridley Jacobs, William Perkings. (UNI)
