Boost for Black Caps as Bangladesh bowlers banned from T20 World Cup

The Black Caps' Twenty20 World Cup hopes have been helped by rivals Bangladesh having two bowlers banned for illegal actions.

Bangladesh pair Arafat Sunny and Taskin Ahmed have been banned from bowling by the International Cricket Council and will play no further part in the World Twenty20.

Sunny, a left-arm spinner, and Taskin, a paceman were reported for suspected illegal actions after Bangladesh's first match of the tournament and independent testing in Chennai has judged against the bowlers.

Both players have played four matches in India and helped the Tigers qualify for the Super 10 stage.

The ICC will allow Bangladesh to call up replacements.

A statement from the governing body read: 'The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced that independent assessments have found the bowling actions of Bangladesh's Arafat Sunny and Taskin Ahmed to be illegal and, as such, both the bowlers have been suspended from bowling in international cricket with immediate effect.

'Arafat's analysis revealed that the elbow extension for majority of his deliveries had exceeded the 15 degrees level of tolerance permitted under the ICC Regulations for the Review of Bowlers Reported with Suspected Illegal Bowling Actions, while not all of Taskin's deliveries were legal.'

Bangladesh resume their campaign without Taskin and Arafat on Monday against Australia.

After both lost their opening games the Group 2 clash takes on extra importance.
Australia skipper Steve Smith slammed his batsman following a dismal defeat to New Zealand in their opening World Twenty20 fixture.

Needing just 7.15 runs per over to win, the Aussie openers put on 44 for the first wicket in just five overs.

But they then lost 4-22 - including Smith to a soft stumping - and collapsed at the end as New Zealand secured a stunning win by eight runs.

'The batters are to blame for this one. We didn't apply ourselves well enough and didn't get those partnerships throughout the middle,' Smith said.

'We've got a lot of power in the back end but it's no use if we don't have the wickets in the shed to use it.'

-DAILY MAIL