Yusuf Pathan and Yuvraj Singh
It was the night that perfectly matched the intensity and emotions of the 2011 World Cup final. India and Sri Lanka up against each other in the summit clash, the match going down to the wire, and eventually the Indians emerging as the victorious side. MS Dhoni's glorious six over long-on had guided India to their second World Cup win on that historic night in Wankhede, but Sunday's story was only a tad different with India Legends successfully defending their total at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur against Sri Lanka Legends to bag the maiden Road Safety World Series trophy.
Put to bat first on Sunday night, India lost opener Virender Sehwag and S Badrinath early, falling to Rangana Herath and Sanath Jaysuriya respectively. Sachin Tendulkar, the captain, looked steady however en route to his 23-ball 30 laced with five boundaries before he departed after top-edging a scoop shot.
Yuvraj Singh and Yusuf Pathan then stitched their respective star-studded fifties, en route to a sensational 85-run stand that revived India. Yuvraj scored 41-ball 60 with four boundaries and as many sixes while Yusuf scored 62 off 36 balls with four boundaries and five sixes.
India Legends finished with 181 for four at the end of 20 overs.
Sri Lanka Legends started off the chase on a promising chase with Sanath Jayasuriya scoring 35-ball 43. But a middle-order collapse, orchestrated by the Pathan brothers saw the visiting side fall from 62 for one to 91 for 4.
Sri Lanka however looked to revive following a 64-run partnership between Chinthaka Jayasinghe (40 off 30) and Kaushalya Weeraratne (38 off 15) for the fifth wicket, but the latter's dismissal in the penultimate over ended all hopes for Sri Lanka.
