Raipur: India Legends will take on Australia Legends in the first semifinal of the Road Safety World Series T20 tournament at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium here on Wednesday.
India and Australia cricket rivalry is one of the most sought-after contests on the cricket pitch and fans were waiting for an India-Australia showdown in the ongoing tournament with bated breaths.
The Sachin Tendulkar-led India Legends — who are also the defending champions — have been a tad unlucky this season as three of their five games ended in no result due to incessant rain. However, the two matches which the Men in Blue won were one-sided and the team will take confidence from the superlative performances against South Africa and England Legends.
Captain Tendulkar turned the clock back with his knock in Dehradun against England. Stuart Binny, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina, and Yuvraj Singh also exploded with the bat when they got the opportunity to express themselves.
India Legends’ bowling department has also done well in the three innings and would be looking to produce another clinical show against Shane Watson & Co. The pace battery and the spin department did reasonably well in the three matches they’ve played. They would take confidence from their bowling effort against the Windies where they prevented the Caribbean Legends from posting a big total in the death overs despite going for runs in the first half of the bowling innings.
Despite three games getting washed out due to rain, India Legends players have proven their mettle with the bat in whatever little opportunity they’ve got. In the first knock-out game of the second edition, the Men In Blue would be aiming to bring their A-Game against a worthy opponent.
The Australia Legends had a forgettable start to their campaign in the tournament but the Men In Yellow got back to winning ways in a nail-biting thriller against Bangladesh. Since then, Watson and his team haven’t looked back and crushed West Indies in their next game to secure the semi-final berth. Captain Watson is looking in a menacing form and would be aiming to continue the momentum against the Indians.
The Australian bowling attack, comprising Brett Lee, Dirk Nannes, Nathan Reardon, and Bryce McGain, among others looks equally potent.
–IANS