Sam Billings pulls off an MS Dhoni-like run-out at the Eden Park against New Zealand

MS Dhoni isn’t known as the most agile keeper doing the rounds in world cricket. But it’s his presence of mind that has helped him carve his name amongst the best gloveman ever. A number of cricketers have tried to emulate his antics behind the wickets. Of late, Sam Billings, who has played under Dhoni for the CSK franchise in the IPL, gave glimpses of the veteran.

Sam was a part of England’s eleven in their fifth T20I against New Zealand at the Eden Park in Auckland. In the last ball of the Black Caps’ innings, Tom Curran bowled a scorching Yorker to Ross Taylor, who whipped the leather through the backward square leg region and set off for a couple. Since it was the last ball, Taylor pushed his partner James Neesham for the extra run.

However, Taylor couldn’t complete the second run. Sam Curran hurled in a strong, but a wayward throw from the deep. Sam Billings collected the leather and flicked it on to the stumps without looking. It’s a technique Dhoni has used plenty of times to disallow batsmen from completing runs.

Here is the video of Sam Billings

A nail-biter at the Eden Park

The game was shortened due to rain and both sides were allotted 11 overs. After the Three Lions won the toss and elected to field, the Kiwis amassed 146 runs. Martin Guptill, Colin Munro and Tim Seifert tore the Brits’ bowling apart with some brutal strokes. It was absolute carnage in Auckland.

In their run-chase, the visitors lost wickets quickly, but didn’t allow the rate to mount. Jonny Bairstow’s 18-ball 47 set the tone for the Brits. After a lot of twists and turns, England scored 15 runs off the last over and took the game into a super over. Speedster Neesham floundered in that over.

In the one-over eliminator, Bairstow and skipper Eoin Morgan hit a six each to help England set a target of 18. Chris Jordan gave away only eight runs in the Super Over and took his side to a win. It was the second such game the teams were involved in after the 2019 edition of the World Cup.