Sports
Why the delay? Sri Lanka puzzled over timing of Kuhnemann’s action report

Multiple senior Sri Lankan players had raised concerns over Matthew Kuhnemann’s bowling action after the first Test, Cricbuzz has learnt, with many in the team now left puzzled over why the match officials waited until the end of the series to report the Australian left-arm spinner. According to sources within the team, a couple of them in particular had indicated having found something “not quite right” about the way Kuhnemann was finishing his action while he starred in the first Test win with nine wickets in Galle.
This comes in the wake of the 28-year-old’s action being officially reported by the ICC with its legality now under scrutiny. Kuhnemann, who finished on top of the wicket-takers’ list with 16 wickets at 17.18, will now have to undergo independent testing within the next two weeks to be cleared to bowl again in international cricket.
However, some of the Sri Lankan batters seem to have had an issue with it as early as the latter part of the opening Test. With one of them even having approached Sri Lankan spin bowling coach Piyal Wijetunge to watch replays and analyse Kuhnemann’s action. It’s learnt that Wijetunge couldn’t find anything untoward with it and put the batter’s doubts down to the unique ‘wrist action’ used by the Aussie finger spinner.
The Sri Lankan batter in question and some of his colleagues though weren’t convinced by the spin bowling coach’s explanation and continued to raise eyebrows over some of Kuhnemann’s deliveries as the series progressed.
“They were finding it difficult to leave the crease against him, because they felt like he could adjust and make changes very late, which they found unusual. It’s not like they were questioning his action after every delivery but there were some balls which they were concerned with,” the source told Cricbuzz.
For the record, a number of Sri Lankan batters did succumb to Kuhnemann while trying to play him from their crease.
Kuhnemann is no stranger to Sri Lanka having made his ODI debut here in 2022, and then having gone on to make an impression in his maiden Test series in India the following year. And this is the first time during his eight-year professional cricket career that his action has been officially questioned. A source did admit that the Sri Lankans had not found anything out of place when they were studying Kuhnemann’s bowling videos as part of their preparation for the Test series. That it was only after they saw him bowl during the first Test in Galle that alarms were raised.
“Our focus was more on Nathan Lyon and the damage that he could cause in Galle. But we did watch a lot of Kuhnemann’s videos from his past performances, and nothing really caught our eye. There were a few deliveries through the series though that didn’t quite feel right,” revealed one of the batters.
“What we don’t understand is why the match officials, who were the same for both Tests, waited until the series was over before reporting his action,” he added.
None of this of course has any bearing on how Australia deal with the situation, with Kuhnemann’s immediate future as a bowler in international cricketer dependent on the outcome of the testing conducted by the human-movement specialist in the next two weeks.
Interestingly, the Sri Lankan spin coach’s assessment, like learnt, seemed to be along the lines of how former ace Indian spinner R Ashwin had broken down Kuhnemann’s action a couple of years ago on his YouTube show.
Ashwin had highlighted the uniqueness of the left-armer’s wrist in its loading position and why it could create an optical illusion of there being an elaborate “elbow extension”, which according to the laws of the game cannot be over 15 degrees.
“The way his wrist breaks, it will look at times like an elbow extension. But there’s nothing like that in his action. It’s more the wrist involvement,” Ashwin had said.
Cricket Australia have thrown their support behind the Queenslander, who now plies his trade in Tasmania, and will work through the process, which will involve Kuhnemann bowling at similar speeds and with similar revolutions on the ball as he would have during the second Test. The results will then show if there is an elbow extension beyond the legal 15 degrees in order to deem whether his action is legal or not in its current form.
It’s learnt that Sri Lankan cricket will wait until the results are made public before making any further statements about the issue regarding Kuhnemann’s bowling action.
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Allen, Seifert and bowlers combine to hand NZ 2-0 lead in rain-shortened contest

New Zealand’s powerful powerplay performances with both ball and bat comfortably dispatched Pakistan in the second T20I in Dunedin to give the hosts a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
Jacob Duffy, Ben Sears and Ish Sodhi pinned Pakistan early to cripple their batting effort, forcing the visitors to make only 135 in the 15-overs-a-side contest, after which openers Tim Seifert (45 off 22 balls) and Finn Allen (38 from 16) killed the chase off early, adding 66 in just 28 deliveries.
Salman Agha’s 46, and economical spells from Khushdil Shah and Haris Rauf, were the positives from the Pakistan camp. But, overall, they were outplayed by the hosts, although the gulf between the two sides was lesser than in the first T20I. The teams now move to Auckland, with the visitors one defeat away from losing the series.
After New Zealand stand-in captain Michael Bracewell opted to bowl, Duffy’s rising delivery had opener Hasan Nawaz miscuing a shot to backward point in the first over itself. Sears then dismissed an aggressive Mohammad Haris for 11 when he slashed the bowler to deep third.
Agha, Pakistan’s captain, then counterattacked to give the visitors’ innings some impetus, but Bracewell’s introduction of Sodhi crippled them. Irfan Khan’s leading edge off Sodhi saw him holing out at backward point, and two balls later, Khushdil was walking back after being trapped in front of the stumps by the wristspinner.
Agha’s 28-ball 46 threatened New Zealand in the middle overs, but when he fell in the tenth over to Sears in his second spell, Pakistan lost steam. However, Shadab Khan’s 14-ball 26, and Shaheen Shah Afridi’s 14-ball 22, added some late impetus to lift the visitors to 135 for 9 in 15 overs. James Neesham, playing his first T20I in nine months, finished with 2 for 26, both wickets coming in the 13th over.
“The guys bowling into the wind bowled particularly well,” Bracewell said after the game. “I think when the wicket’s been under covers for a day or so and offering extra bounce, our bowlers used the surface well. We were pretty happy with the score at half-time.”
On one of the fastest scoring T20I grounds, a required run rate of nine per over wasn’t daunting. But Afridi’s maiden over to Seifert meant Pakistan started well.
Playing in Dunedin for the first time since his record-breaking innings of 16 sixes against Pakistan in January 2024, Allen kickstarted the chase by launching three sixes off Mohammad Ali’s back-of-a-length deliveries in the second over. Seifert went one better in the third, smashing Afridi for four sixes in the arc between extra cover and deep square leg. With seven sixes in the first three overs – the second-most in that phase of any T20I (where ball-by-ball data is available) – the openers looked in a hurry to finish the game.
Seifert fell in the fifth over even as he looked set for a rapid half-century, as he miscued Ali’s slower ball to mid-on. But his 22-ball 45 had made the chase elementary. Allen then smashed left-arm seamer Jahandad Khan for consecutive sixes in the seventh over before falling lbw next ball. His 16-ball 38 left New Zealand at 88 for 2 in seven overs, needing just another 48 from as many balls.
“After the first over [maiden], thought it was a tricky chase, but then Finn and I combined well,” Seifert, the Player of the Match, who returned to the T20I squad ahead of this series, said after the game. “As a Kiwi, playing for the nation is great, and it’s fun to be back with the boys. You’re playing with the world’s best players, and it helps you to know your game. As a player, you’re definitely learning and getting better.”
The start allowed New Zealand’s middle order to take their time, although Mark Chapman and Neesham fell for single-digit scores. Rauf, playing instead of spinner Abrar Ahmed, picked off Daryll Mitchell and Neesham in quick succession, but Mitchell Hay’s unbeaten 16-ball 21, and Bracewell’s winning boundary, took the hosts home with 11 balls to spare.
“The ground was small, and we wanted to attack their bowlers from one end with the wind,” Bracewell said about the batting performance. “But the openers went big from both ends [smiles]. We’re pretty happy with where things are at overall.”
Pakistan captain Agha said their own powerplay performances were a let-down.
“It was a better game than last game – lot of positives – but few things more to do,” Agha told the broadcasters. “We batted better but we need to finish our batting better. Bowling was decent but we need to be more consistent. We need to understand and adjust to the bounce. After the powerplay, we bowled well. We bowled well in patches, [but[ at the same time, we need to be more consistent in powerplay bowling.”
Brief scores: [15 overs a side]
New Zealand 137 for 5 in 13.1 overs (Tim Seifert 45, Finn Allen 38, Mitchell Hay 21*; Haris Rauf 2-20) beat Pakistan 135 for 9 in 15 over (Salman Agha 46, Shadab Khan 26, Shaheen Shah Afridi 22*; Ish Sodhi 2-17, Jacob Duffy 2-20, Ben Sears 2-23, James Neesham 2-26) by five wickets
[Cricinfo]
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Rain washes out decider with series between New Zealand Women and Sri Lanka Women ending at 1-1

Dunedin rain has washed away hopes of a series result between New Zealand and Sri Lanka after only 14.1 overs were possible in the third T20I on Tuesday.
Several lengthy rain delays ended any hopes of a result after New Zealand had made a bright start with the bat, having been sent in by Chamari Athapaththu.
Suzie Bates and Georgia Plimmer shared a 60-run stand in eight overs before the first rain delay halted play. Shortly after returning Bates fell to Athapaththu for 31 off 28 before rain returned again.
The match was reduced to 15-overs a side thanks to the second delay. Sri Lanka’s bowlers made the most of break, picking up two wickets on return. Plimmer continued her good form striking three boundaries and two sixes to reach 46 not out before rain ended the match.
Athapaththu finished player of the truncated series with scores of 64 not out and 23 and bowling returns of 1-10, 0-19 and 1-19 across the series.
Brief scores:
New Zealand Women 101 for 3 in 14.1 overs (Georgia Plimmer 46*, Suzie Bates 31, Izzy Sharp17*; Inoshi Priyadarshani 1-27, Chamari Athapaththu 1-19, Kavisha Dilhari 1-21) against Sri Lanka Women No result
[Cricinfo]
Sports
Sri Lanka to compete against USA, Jamaica in relay finals

SL to field biggest team at World Indoor Championships
Sri Lanka Athletics is set to field its biggest contingent to a World Indoor Athletics Championship this week after World Athletics extended an invitation to include men’s and women’s 4×400 metres relay teams for the global event starting in Nanjing, China on Friday.
Sprinter Kalinga Kumarage is set to lead a young group of sprinters for the 4×400 metres relay after World Athletics invited its affiliate to fill the vacume created by the absence of some sprint powerhouses in the two relays.
Sri Lanka Athletics has selected men’s and women’s teams for the 4×400 metres relays based on the performances at the second selection trial held early this month.
The absence of leading sprinter Aruna Dharshana and the shocking defeats to some of the Asian medallists at the selection trial have opened a great opportunity for junior sprinters at the global track and field event where they will brush shoulders against USA, Jamaica, Hungary, Nigeria and China in the final.
S.B.R. Madushan, Sadew Rajakaruna and Omel Shashintha will form the men’s 4×400 metres relay team with experienced campaigner Kumarage. Rakakaruna who created a new national junior record recently and Shashintha are both school athletes and the opportunity at a global event will augur well for the duo. The reserve in the men’s 4×400 metres team is Isuru Lakshan.
Dharshana is currently training and competing in Australia. According to Sri Lanka Athletics Dharshana is not available as he has decided to complete all his commitments in Australia before returning. His absence will hinder country’s chances of producing a top performance in Nanjing where the country has a chance of qualifying for the World Relays and the World Championships.
Asian medallist Nadeesha Ramanayake will form the women’s 4×400 metres team with young aspirants Nishendra Harshani, Sayuri Lakshima and Jayeshi Uththara. Jithmi Wijetunga is the reserve selected in the team.
The women’s team will vie against China, India, USA Australia and Poland.
Sri Lanka is represented by two other athletes at the World Indoor Championships. Hurdler Kaveesha Bandara, sprinter Chamod Yodasinghe and Kalinga Kumarage secured spots for individual events through World Athletics event rankings.
The final entry lists confirmed by World Athletics include 576 athletes from 127 countries. The 576 entries comprise 264 women and 312 men.
by Reemus Fernando
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