It doesn’t happen often when a wicketkeeper makes a false claim for the hit wicket but the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) gloveman, Sam Billings did so during the ongoing match against Gujarat Titans (GT). Billings was seen to be pretending as if David Miller was hit wicket after removing a bail as the batter went deep in the crease to play a shot and replays revealed it.
Gujarat Titans have been in a great run of form in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 losing just one match from six they played. Against Kolkata Knight Riders, they chose to bat first after winning the toss going against the trend. GT lost the wicket of Shubhman Gill early but Wriddhiman Saha and David Miller played their part.
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A weird incident took place in the 16th over of the innings. Sunil Narine bowled a short ball to Miller on the fifth ball and he went deep inside the crease to play the shot from backfoot. Sam Billings playfully removed the bails while keeping the wickets and pretended as if the batter was hit-wicket. The decision was referred upstairs and it was checked by the third umpire in replays. The replays clearly showed that Sam Billings had removed the bails and the batter was adjudged as not out.
Here is the video of the incident:
— Rishobpuant (@rishobpuant) April 23, 2022
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Sam Billings (wk), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Tim Southee, Shivam Mavi, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy
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Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya (c), Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Alzarri Joseph, Lockie Ferguson, Yash Dayal, Mohammed Shami
Here is how the fans reacted to the incident:
Well they went upstairs to check for a hit-wicket on the previous ball. The bails had come off after Billings' gloves hit them. Might have well checked with the wicketkeeper.
Was it accidental or intentional? @ESPNcricinfo— Sridhar Samu (@sridhar_samu) April 23, 2022
#Shame
Shame on SAM BILLINGS#KKRvsGT pic.twitter.com/WWqcrTX51D— ❤️VD❤️. (@25_08_2022) April 23, 2022
What actually did Billings do? 🌚
— 💙Aanchal 💙 (@SRKianAJH) April 23, 2022
Sam Billings smile is really very jolly..
It brings smile on my face too.. 😅
— Sidra🥀श्रे-ऋ✨ (@TypicallyWeirdd) April 23, 2022
Billings tried to be over smart! Seriously!
— Sourabh Sanyal -Mask & Vaccination (💉x😷) is must (@sourabhsanyal) April 23, 2022
Kyu ab billings neh kya kiya?
— Shibayanᴷᴷᴿ (@iamshibbss) April 23, 2022
