AKILA’S NEW ACTION YIELDS SAME OLD RESULTS
Mystery spinner Akila Dananjaya yesterday said that he did not have to change much when going through the process of re-modelling his bowling action, adding he was happy with the results of that change.
Dananjaya, playing his first Test since his return from suspension for an illegal bowling action, took all five of New Zealand’s wickets on the first day of the first Test yesterday.
“There was no big change in my action. Piyal Sir, (Wijetunga) helped me a lot after changing the action. I used to send videos to him and get more information from him. I am really happy of my bowling after changing the action,” Dananjaya said yesterday.
“I have totally forgotten the old action. Now, I am bowling with the new action but there is no big change and I get all what I want. So, I stick with the new action,” he added,
“(With) the new action, I am keeping my arm at a certain point and that’s the only change,” he also said.
Among Dananjaya’s five wickets were two of the five best Test batsmen in the world - Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls - and the spinner said conditions early in the day were conducive to spin.
“In the first couple of hours I had good support but with the sunlight coming more and more, the turn was less,” he said, suggesting that whatever moisture had existed in the pitch had dried up.
Meanwhile, Nicholls echoed Dananjaya’s sentiments regarding the pitch adding that New Zealand had opportunities to score.
“They were tough at times. The ball certainly spun a little earlier than we thought, but we expected it to be turning. The way Akila bowled throughout putting pressure on us - it was tough.”
“There were also opportunities to score. It’s sort of a balance. When the ball got a little bit softer, we found it easier to score. That’s the case with these sorts of wickets,” he said.