Sam Billings fielding: Billings nails direct-hit to brilliantly run out Praveen Jayawickrama at Riverside Ground

Dixit Bhargav | 29/06/2021
Sam Billings fielding: Billings nails direct-hit to brilliantly run out Praveen Jayawickrama at Riverside Ground

Sam Billings nails direct-hit: The English batsman once again proved his worth as an outfielder at the Riverside Ground.

During the first ODI of the ongoing Sri Lanka’s tour of England in Chester-le-Street, England batsman Sam Billings’ exceptional fielding skills as an outfielder played a titular role in them bundling out Sri Lanka for 185 in 42.3 overs.

England dismissed Sri Lanka’s No. 11 in debutant Praveen Jayawickrama (4) after he was short of his crease at the non-striker’s end in a bid to complete a couple of runs alongside Chamika Karunaratne (19*).

Karunaratne, who was keen to retain strike, guided a Sam Curran delivery on the leg-side and expressed interest in running two runs. While the duo had successfully ran two through a similar shot on the previous delivery, a major difference on this particular occasion was that the ball had gone more towards Billings (deep mid-wicket) than Moeen Ali (long on).

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Running in from the boundary, Billings’ brilliance saw him nailing a direct-hit to surprise Jayawickrama.

Barring a 99-run stand for the fourth wicket between Sri Lanka captain Kusal Perera (73) and all-rounder Wanidu Hasaranga (54), no other Sri Lankan pair put on display a stable partnership resulting in them collapsing from 145/3 to 185/10.

England all-rounder Chris Woakes, who opened the bowling for them, emerged as the pick of their bowlers with disciplined bowling figures of 10-5-18-4. Apart from Woakes, the likes of David Willey and Ali picked three and one wicket respectively.

Sam Billings nails direct-hit to run out Praveen Jayawickrama in first ODI

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Post Edited By: Dixit Bhargav
England Praveen Jayawickrama Sam Billings Sri Lanka Sri Lanka tour of England 2021

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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