Deonarine hits 63, but West Indies Legends lose to Sri Lanka
SUMMARY: Sri Lanka Legends 172-9 from 20 overs (Ishan Jayaratne 31, Sanath Jayasuriya 26, Jeevan Mendis 25; Devendra Bishoo 2-17, Krishmar Santokie 2-26) vs West Indies Legends 158-7 from 20 overs (Narsingh Deonarine 63, Dwayne Smith 23; Sanath Jayasuriya 2-26, Nuwan Kulasekara 2-26)
Guyanese Narsingh Deonarine stroked a fine half-century, but West Indies Legends fell short by 14 runs against Sri Lanka Legends in the semi-finals of the Road Safety World Series 2022.
Playing in Jaipur, Sri Lanka Legends posted 172-9 after being sent in to bat, and West Indies responded with 158-7. Sri Lanka Legends will now play defending champions and hosts India Legends in the final on Saturday.
India Legends had defeated Australia Legends by five wickets in the first-semi-final.
In semi-final two, Deonarine led the charge for West Indies Legends, the left-hander hitting a topscore of 63 off 39 balls. The former Test batsman struck four fours and four sixes in his knock.
Only opener Dwayne Smith with 23 off 24 (3x4s) got past 20, but Deonarine found a partner in Danza Hyatt (17) in a partnership of 54 for the fifth wicket. Although Jerome Taylor struck two fours and a six in 19* off 15, West Indies Legends still fell short.
Sanath Jayasuriya and Nuwan Kulasekara has identical figures of 2-26.
Earlier, Guyanese leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo took 2-17 and Krishmar Santokie 2-26 as Sri Lanka Legends made 172-9.
Daren Powell, Sulieman Benn, Taylor and Smith took one wicket each.
Ishan Jayaratne (31), Sanath Jayasuriya (26) and Jeevan Mendis (25) were the leading scorers for Sri Lanka Legends.
West Indies Legends finished fourth in the preliminary stage of the competition, defeating Bangladesh and England, losing to Australia and having two no-results against India and New Zealand.
West Indies Legends were also knocked out at the semi-final stage of the inaugural tournament in 2021, losing to eventual champions India Legends by 12 runs. In that contest, Deonarine made 59 off 44 balls, his second fifty of the tournament.
