Shreyas Iyer’s back luck with bouncers continued on Friday as the Indian batsman once again gifted away his wicket while trying to tackle a bouncer from James Anderson in the rescheduled fifth Test match between India and England.
Anderson bowled three bouncers to Iyer, who didn’t play the first two balls, but couldn’t tackle the third one. However, credit must also go to Sam Billings for taking an outstanding diving catch towards his left to complete the dismissal.
The incident took place when Iyer was batting at 15, having faced 11 balls, on the penultimate ball of the 27th over of India’s inning. Anderson delivered a short-pitched bouncer which appeared to be heading outside Iyer’s leg stump, but the 27-year-old ended up deflecting the ball, after which Billings leapt towards his left and completed a spiderman-esque catch.
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A video of the dismissal has gone viral on social media:
Remarkable Sam Billings. pic.twitter.com/bEjXwIZ3du
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) July 1, 2022
During the IPL 2022 edition, Iyer was troubled many times by bouncers, and his head coach Brendon McCullum, who has now joined the English dugout, had clear instructions for his bowlers: bowl bouncers to Shreyas Iyer.
The plan worked to perfection, which reduced half the Indian side back to the dugout, as the Men in Blue slumped to 98/5 after Iyer’s wicket.
Jimmy Anderson has been at his best on day 1 in Edgbaston as Iyer was his third wicket, having dismissed both the Indian openers earlier. The Englishman was ruled out of England’s third Test against New Zealand, but he has picked up from where he left off.
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Meanwhile, after Iyer’s dismissal, Ravindra Jadeja and Rishabh Pant continued to build for India, as they stitched together a much-needed 40-run partnership and helped the visitors to a score of 134/5, at the time of writing.
