Tharanga, Dilshan seal Legends League title for Asia Lions

Tillakaratne Dilshan (58 off 41) and Upul Tharanga (57 off 28) struck fiery half-centuries to carry Asia Lions to the Legends League Masters title with a seven-wicket win over World Giants in the final in Doha on Monday.

Tharanga and Dilshan started their chase of 148 in aggressive fashion. Dilshan hit two consecutive boundaries in the first over while Tharanga soon joined in by hitting a delivery off Samit Patel for a six over long-on.

There was no respite for the World Giants in the powerplay as the former Sri Lanka duo continued to attack in the chase. Tharanga made good use of his feet to hit Richardo Powell for a six in the fourth delivery of the fifth over. He, then, came down the track to hit one over long-on later in the over. His opening partner Dilshan capitalised on the final over of the powerplay as he hit three boundaries off Chris Mpofu.

By the end of the powerplay, Asia Lions had racked up 72, the record for most runs in the powerplay in this tournament, which all but killed the chase.

The partnership continued to flourish even after the powerplay as the openers found boundaries in every over before their 115-run stand was broken by Brett Lee. Tharanga tried to make room but missed a straight delivery from Lee. Tharanga finished the tournament as the highest run-scorer.

The boundaries dried up following that dismissal but Asia Lions cruised through the chase even after Dilshan was dismissed for a 42-ball 58. Mohammad Hafeez and Misbah-ul-Haq took their side over the line with seven wickets and 23 balls to spare.

Earlier, World Giants made a slow start after opting to bat. Their new opening pair of Lendl Simmons and Morne van Wyk could only manage nine runs in the first 15 balls, which set the tone for the rest of the innings.

Pressure piled up on Van Wyk after he failed to score off his first seven deliveries. He tried to cut an arm ball from Abdur Razzak in the third over but could only manage an under-edge onto the stumps. His opening partner Simmons looked in good touch in his 17-ball innings, which included one four and a six, before a wonderful fielding effort from Sohail Tanvir ran him out.

It was majorly a Jacques Kallis show after those early dismissals as he steered the World Giants from 19 for 3 to 147 for 4. Kallis made a cautious start to his innings, dealing mostly in singles before he hit his first boundary in the sixth over.

Following that, Kallis and Ross Taylor rebuilt the World Giants innings cautiously. The first boundary after the powerplay came after 33 balls as Kallis slog-swept Shahid Afridi's tossed up delivery over midwicket.

That changed the momentum of the match as Kallis and Taylor found the boundary more consistently in their 92-run partnership. That stand was broken in the 17th over as Taylor missed a straight delivery by Thisara Perera.

Kallis continued his fine display of end-overs hitting to help his side accumulate 26 runs off the last two overs, including a boundary and two sixes, to help World Giants finish with 147 for 4.