After the league stage action got over, the Road Safety World Series 2022 moved ahead with the knockout stage on Wednesday. The first semi-final of the competition was played between India Legends and Australia Legends at Raipur. India Legends captain Sachin Tendulkar won the toss and invited the Australian Legends team led by Shane Watson to bat first.
Openers Watson and Alex Doolan walked out to the middle to give an electrifying start to their team. Watson continued his good form in the tournament as he took on the Indian bowlers right from the word go. Doolan also got in the mood after being cautious early on.
The duo put on 60 runs for the first wicket after 7.1 overs. Rahul Sharma picked up the wicket of Watson and ended the dangerous-looking partnership. The fall of wicket brought Ben Dunk to the crease who was in no mood to settle down. Dunk began plundering boundaries right from his arrival at the crease giving a headache to the Indian bowlers.
India got the second wicket after 10.3 overs as Yusuf Pathan picked the wicket of Doolan. Australia managed to reach the total of 171 today after rain didn’t let any play happen yesterday after 17 overs. Dunk emerged as the top scorer of the innings scoring a brilliant 46 off just 26 balls with the help of five boundaries. Abhimanyu Mithun and Yusuf Pathan picked up two wickets each from India.
In reply to the Australian total, Indian openers Naman Ojha and Sachin Tendulkar added 38 runs for the first wicket in 5.2 overs. After the fall of the first wicket, none of the new batters could settle in as wickets began to tumble from one end.
At the other end, Naman Ojha kept playing scrumptious shots to take the Indian chase forward. The other batters played second fiddle to Ojha who looked in fine touch with the bat. India were in a spot of bother at 125/5 losing the last three wickets in ten runs. They required another 47 runs in 26 balls. Irfan Pathan then walked in to join Ojha at the wicket.
The southpaw ended up playing a blistering knock of 37 off just 12 balls to take his team over the line with four balls to spare. Ojha remained not out at the other end for a well-made 90 off 62 balls as India beat Australia by five wickets. They will next face the winner of the second semi-final in the final of the tournament on October 1. The Indian legends were crowned champions in the inaugural season of the Road Safety World series last year.
Here’s how the fans reacted to India’s thumping win on Twitter:
Naman ojha is certified Indian legend#RoadSafetyWorldSeries
— Manisha Karan (@ManishaKaran1) September 29, 2022
Irfan Pathan's 39*(12) & Naman Ojha's 90* helped India Legends beat Australia by 5 wickets in Semi Finals of Road Safety World Series@IrfanPathan Pls come out of retirement and replace Bumrah for T20 World Cup next month ?#INDLvsAUSL #RoadSafetyWorldSeries #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/uk2f9JvpYi
— Nilesh G (@oye_nilesh) September 29, 2022
Even at this age excellent wonderful batting @IrfanPathan your career would have been in a different range if it wasn't for @msdhoni ruined your career.#RoadSafetyWorldSeries
— chilamakure Nagaraju (@chilamakure) September 29, 2022
@IrfanPathan & #namanOjha you guys played superbly today. India legends defeating Australia legends in the Road Safety Series was a treat to watch today. #RoadSafetyWorldSeries2022 #RoadSafetyWorldSeries
— Er. Sagar Raj (@iamsharksar) September 29, 2022
That’s #Irfanpathan for u…such an incredible hitting along with #NamanOjha&then happy faces of #SachinTendulkar&others..!??#RoadSafetyWorldSeries #RoadSafetyWorldSeries2022 #INDLvsAUSL #INDLvAUSL #Raipur @sachin_rt @IrfanPathan @YUVSTRONG12 @RSWorldSeries pic.twitter.com/1DCEZqYvLP
— Amiya Kumar Mohan (@amiya_mohan) September 29, 2022
Great innings by Irfan Pathan this, shame we didn't get much of this for India.#INDLvsAUSL #RoadSafetyWorldSeries #RSWS #YehJungHaiLegendary
— Vipul Ghatol ?? (@Vipul_Espeaks) September 29, 2022
Irfan pathan still deserves to play in Team India XI
What a player ?#IndiaLegends into FINALS ?#irfanpathan #RoadSafetyWorldSeries2022 #RoadSafetyWorldSeries @RSWorldSeries @IrfanPathan pic.twitter.com/zAek0RXk07— Ayodhya karthik (@ayodhyakarthik) September 29, 2022
Naman Ojha is playing a gem.?#INDLvsAUSL #RoadSafetyWorldSeries #RSWS #YehJungHaiLegendary
— Vipul Ghatol ?? (@Vipul_Espeaks) September 29, 2022
Once a #finisher always a #finisher#irfanpathan #RoadSafetyWorldSeries #LegendsLeagueCricket https://t.co/lJ3RE4ZgN0
— Nitin Gupta (@__lichen) September 29, 2022
@IrfanPathan batting is a treat to watch. A legend of the game.#RoadSafetyWorldSeries#RSWS #IrfanPathan#Cricket #RSWS2022 pic.twitter.com/ViZ2azcCb0
— Trending Cricket (@Fast__Bowling) September 29, 2022
