Raipur, Sep 26 (UNI) With the Dehradun leg of the Road Safety World Series 2022 ending prematurely due to inclement weather, the tournament now shifts its base to Raipur for its
final leg, starting Tuesday.
All the matches of the Raipur leg will be held at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International
Cricket Stadium, which successfully hosted the second phase of the first edition last year.
This year as well, this venue will host the playoffs.
On the opening day of the Raipur, fans will get to watch a doubleheader as Sri Lanka Legends
lock horns with Bangladesh Legends in the afternoon game while the evening contest will see Australia Legends take on old foes England Legends.
It will be the last day of the league stage of the tournament, which has been marred with rain, and fans have been denied the opportunity to watch some high-quality contests at every venue.
Sri Lanka Legends and Australia Legends have all but qualified for the semi-finals, while England and Bangladesh Legends are yet to taste a victory. England and Bangladesh teams would be looking to end their campaign on a winning note and also cause some upset in the tournament.
Tillakaratne Dilshan-led Sri Lanka Legends' previous match against New Zealand was abandoned without a ball being bowled in Dehradun. Bangladesh's highly-anticipated game against hosts India was abandoned midway through the latter's innings chasing 122.
While their bowlers have done reasonably well, Bangladesh Legends' batters have failed to put up a brave show in every game. Against a quality Sri Lankan bowling lineup, captain Mohammad Sharif would be hoping for a better effort from his batting unit.
Sri Lanka has been a team to beat in this edition with its comprehensive performances in all three of its matches. The team is unbeaten so far and sits comfortably in the second position in the points table. Against Bangladesh, the Lankan Lions would be looking to put up another well-rounded show and give themselves match practice ahead of the semi-finals.
Australia Legends are also coming to Raipur on the back of a sensational victory over West Indies Legends. Captain Shane Watson smashed a 50-ball 88 and his opening partner Alex Doolan's knock of 56 off 30 deliveries propelled the Aussies to a massive 8-wicket win in Dehradun. Their bowlers also put up a brave show against the Caribbeans and prevented the latter from posting a mammoth total. With that win, the Men in Yellow jumped to the fourth position in the points table. Against England, skipper Watson will be aiming for an encore.
Ian Bell-led English Legends' performance has been underwhelming in the tournament, to say the least. Their batting and bowling have looked pretty ordinary in the three games they've lost, while one match got washed out. Against in-form Australians, which will be their last game in the tournament, they would aim to pull off a win and finish their campaign on a positive note. If England manage to blank Australia by a huge margin, they can knock the Aussies out of the semi-final race as well and New Zealand could become the fourth semi-finalist.
UNI BM