RSWS 2022, Match 19 Review: Sri Lanka Legends finish group stage on top

Sri Lanka Legends beat Bangladesh Legends by 70 runs in the 19th match of the Road Safety World Series T20 2022 tournament. With this win, they finished the group stage campaign at top of the table with 18 points in five matches from four wins. Bangladesh's campaign ended without a single victory in five matches after another poor performance in their last match in Raipur.

Bangladesh Legends' captain Mohammad Sharif won the toss and invited Sri Lanka to bat first at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium. But his decision proved very costly as Sri Lankan openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Mahela Udawatte put up a quick 56-run partnership for the opening wicket in just 6.2 overs.

Jayasuriya smashed 37 runs off 25 balls before getting out to left-arm off-spin of Abdur Razzak. Then in-form captain Tillakaratne Dilshan and Udawatte put together another fifty-plus partnership to keep Sri Lanka on track for a big total. 

Udawatte scored 43 runs off 27 balls and Dilshan smashed 51 runs off 30 balls before getting out to a Shahadat Hossain's delivery in the 17th over. Chamara Silva scored unbeaten 34 runs off 24 balls to help Sri Lanka score past 200 runs. For Bangladesh, Abdur Razzak was the most economical bowler with a wicket while conceding only 20 runs in four overs.

Tillakaratne Dilshan's all-round performance guides Sri Lanka to huge victory:

While chasing a big - 214-run target, Bangladesh lost both of their openers within the first five overs. Dhammika Prasad bowled out Aftab Ahmed on Bangladesh's innings' third delivery and Jayasuriya dismissed Nazimuddin at an individual score of seven runs in the fifth over.

Tushar Imran and Alok Kapali then avoided further collapse with a 29-run partnership for the third wicket.

Kapali scored 18 runs off 13 balls before getting run out to an Isuru Udana throw in the tenth over but Tushar continued to score runs at the other end. He and Abul Hasan formed a 39-run partnership for the fifth wicket but failed to control the required run rate.

Dilshan dismissed both players and also took the big wicket of Sharif to guide Sri Lanka to a big 70-run win. Dilshan won the Player of the Match award for scoring 51 and taking three wickets while just conceding 26 runs in three overs.