Billings plays for MCC in Emirates T20 in Dubai
Friday 20th March 2015
Kent's Sam Billings hit 10 and took an athletic catch for the MCC as they bowed out to Sussex in the semi-finals of the Emirates T20.
Adil Rashid took four wickets to help Yorkshire win the tournament in Dubai, beating last year’s winners Sussex by 74 runs in the final.
England’s Alastair Cook, Jonny Bairstow and Adam Lyth had all earlier impressed in the semi-finals although Cook’s MCC XI lost their game against Sussex.
The England Test skipper smashed six fours and a six to score 35 off 26 balls, perhaps looking to prove that he shouldn’t have been excluded from England’s World Cup squad.
In the final, Jack Leaning and Andrew Hodd both hit unbeaten fifties for Yorkshire to set Sussex a stiff target of 177 to win, which they fell 75 runs short.
It was a far cry from their dominant semi-final performance where the MCC fell 19 short of Sussex’s 165-run target in the second semi-final, with Michael Carberry (6), Yuvraj Singh (6) and Sam Billings (10) falling cheaply as Will Beer took impressive figures of 4-23.
Cachopa had earlier smashed 65 off 49 deliveries for Sussex – particularly vital after Luke Wright (4) and Luke Wells (0) both fell early to Graeme Onions.
Yorkshire cruised through to the final with a 21-run win in the Roses semi-final clash against Lancashire.
Sam Billings and Kent colleague Adam Riley are in the MCC squad to take on Champion County Yorkshire in a four-day game atthe Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, starting on Sunday.