Sam Billings shares one of his IPL moments when he faced Virat Kohli in the middle. It was an intense match between the two arch rivals, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings (RCB vs CSK) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
The English keeper-batter was a crucial batter in the match, who was then representing CSK. As soon as Billings lost his wicket, Kohli burst out in expressions. He screamed right in the face of the batters.
Former CSK keeper Sam Billings shares a story related to Virat Kohli
Years after the match, Sam Billings still can remember the moment when Virat Kohli took a massive loop just to scream on his face. During a recent interaction, the batter from Kent described how it felt to confront the Indian cricket star.
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“Virat gave me a couple of send-offs. The passion. Yeah, I got bowled in campal by York myself too, ran down the wicket, Yuzi Chahal, poles everywhere. And Virat, I remember I was walking off that way, and Virat was at mid-wicket, I think,” Sam Billings recalled.
“He did a massive loop to scream in my face!” 😂
When Sam Billings faced Virat Kohli. pic.twitter.com/16zZlf0h6v
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Billings shared the tempting moment against Virat
“And he did a massive loop, just a scream in my face. And I was like, ” Why are you wasting your time with me? But, no, I mean, all the great players that we’ve all played against, they’ve got something special, and you don’t know, you can’t quite put your finger on it. An aura, they’ve got an aura,” he added further to explain the incident.
It was a high-scoring match between RCB and CSK on April 25, 2018. On their home ground, the RCB, captained by Virat Kohli, scored 205 runs in exchange for 8 wickets in 20 overs. Two experienced South African Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers smashed half-centuries each to secure the total over 200, which was very challenging on paper to chase down.
MS Dhoni finished the match in style
Chennai Super Kings were prepared for a tough battle for the 24th match of the season. Ambati Rayadu and MS Dhoni, then the skipper of CSK, were the wreckers-in-chief during the run chase. On multiple occasions throughout his career, the ‘captain cool’ finished the business in style. Rayadu was dismissed after scoring 82 off 53; Umesh Yadav caused the dismissal with a run-out. But Dhoni remained on the crease strong to secure a crucial win.
After facing 34 deliveries, he remained unbeaten for 70 runs, powered by one 4 and seven 6s. A late cameo from Dwayne Bravo (14* off 7) also proved vital to decide the match. CSK won the match by 5 wickets and 2 balls spare.
Sam Billings was a part of the CSK playing combination. Despite his reputation for smashing big shots, he departed cheaply, only for 9 runs. Spin wizard Yuzvendra Chahal took the vital wicket with the help of the keeper Quinton de Kock.
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