New Zealand beats Sri Lanka by 35 runs in T20

Allrounders Doug Bracewell and Scott Kuggeleijn joined forces to lead New Zealand to a 35-run win over Sri Lanka in a one-off Twenty20 on Friday and a clean sweep of the tourists across all formats.

Bracewell made 44 from 26 balls and Kuggeleijn, on debut, hit an unbeaten 35 from 15 as New Zealand rallied from 55-5 after 10 overs to make 179-7 batting first.

Kuggeleijn then took 1-26, Bracewell 1-19, and both held two catches as New Zealand bowled out Sri Lanka for 144 in 16.5 overs.

New Zealand's Doug Bracewell bats during their twenty20 cricket international at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand, Friday, Jan. 11, 2019. (AP PhotoDavid Rowland)

Paceman Lockie Ferguson took 3-31 and legspinner Ish Sodhi 3-30 as New Zealand pulled back Sri Lanka which was well ahead of the run rate for much of its chase.

New Zealand previously beat Sri Lanka 1-0 in a two-test series and 3-0 in a three-match one-day international series.

Kuggeleijn, who followed his father Chris as a New Zealand player, and Bracewell, also the son of a former international — fast bowler Brendon — both emerged as genuine allrounders in limited-overs cricket with their performances on Friday.

New Zealand's captain Tim Southee bats against Sri Lanka during their twenty20 cricket international at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand, Friday, Jan. 11, 2019. (AP PhotoDavid Rowland)

New Zealand made a poor start after losing the toss and being sent in, losing Martin Guptill (1) in the first over, Tim Seifert (2) in the second, Henry Nicholls (4) in the third and Colin Munro (16) in the fourth to be 27-4.

Veteran Lasith Malinga, in possibly his last match in New Zealand, and youngster Kasun Rajitha both took two wickets in their opening spells.

When Mitchell Santner was out for 13 in the 10th over, New Zealand was 55-5 at the midpoint of its innings.

Sri Lanka's Dhananjaya de Silva is bowled out by New Zealand's Lockie Ferguson for 10 runs during their twenty20 cricket international at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand, Friday, Jan. 11, 2019. (AP PhotoDavid Rowland)

A competitive total seemed unlikely as the New Zealand batsmen struggled on a drop-in pitch which offered good bounce and on which the slower ball was often effective.

But Ross Taylor (33) put on 47 with Bracewell in a sixth-wicket stand, which helped to repair the innings, then Bracewell took charge with a bright innings which included one four and five sixes in his first match for New Zealand in a year.

"I got going with (Taylor) and managed to get a few away, and then (Kuggeleijn) on debut was outstanding," Bracewell said.

Sri Lanka's Thisara Perera bats watched by New Zealand's Wicketkeeper Tim Seifert during their twenty20 cricket international at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand, Friday, Jan. 11, 2019. (AP PhotoDavid Rowland)

"The boys all sort of chipped in with a few wickets there."

Kuggeleijn joined Bracewell and hit 35, which included one four and four sixes, in a partnership of 41. He added a further 36 with Tim Southee (13) to lift New Zealand to a total which was close to par on Eden Park.

Sri Lanka made a blazing start to its reply with Niroshan Dickwella hitting a four and six from the first two balls of its innings. He blasted Sri Lanka to 29-1 after only two overs.

New Zealand's Scott Kuggeleijn bowls during their twenty20 cricket international at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand, Friday, Jan. 11, 2019. (AP PhotoDavid Rowland)

The tourists remained well ahead of New Zealand's run curve, reaching 52-3 after five overs and 95-4 after 10.

Big-hitting Thisara Perera looked likely to lead Sri Lanka to victory as he raced to 43 from 24 balls with two fours and three sixes. He worked well in partnerships with Kusal Mendis and Dhanajaya de Silva.

But Ferguson returned to dismiss Perera and de Silva in one over and Sri Lanka's effort petered out.

"I thought we did really well in the bowling part, but in the last overs we gave away a few too many runs," Malinga said. "I still feel that in the batting part we didn't understand how to win the game."

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The World Anti-Doping Agency on Tuesday put off a decision about barring government officials from major sporting events if their countries voluntarily withhold dues, pushing a potential conflict with President Donald Trump and other U.S. officials until at least after this summer's World Cup.

The WADA executive committee met and said it would consider the new rule in September, two months after the end of the World Cup, which the U.S. is hosting along with Canada and Mexico.

If such a rule is adopted later this year, it would presumably go into effect before the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

The U.S. hasn't paid its dues since 2023. If that continues, the new rule could place Trump and U.S. lawmakers on a banned list for Games in their own country, though there are doubts about whether an anti-doping regulator could keep any of them from attending the Olympics.

Conflict with WADA has not been a particularly partisan issue in the U.S., which withheld the payments in 2024 and 2025 — once during Trump's presidency and once during Joe Biden's.

The U.S. has withheld $7.3 million over the two years in protest of WADA’s handling of a case involving Chinese swimmers and other issues.

WADA spokesman James Fitzgerald previously told The Associated Press the proposed rule would “not (be) applied retroactively so World Cup, LA and SLC Games would not be covered.”

However, the proposal, a copy of which was obtained by AP, did not include language to that effect and Fitzgerald did not respond to multiple emails seeking clarification about his use of the word “retroactively.”

After the meeting Tuesday, WADA director general Olivier Niggli said “the withholding of contributions by governments for political or other voluntary reasons remains a serious topic of concern for all WADA’s stakeholders.”

“Funding instability has a direct effect on the functioning and development of the World Anti-Doping Program,” Niggli said. “Ultimately, those who are most directly and most negatively impacted are athletes around the world.”

WADA started exploring the issue in 2020, around the time the U.S. began threatening to withhold money. But it says the issue of penalizing governments for not paying is not directly related to the United States.

A U.S. representative on the executive committee during the Biden administration — drug czar Rahul Gupta — led the effort to reject the proposal in 2024.

The U.S. has since lost its spot on the committee. The proposal emerged again earlier this year, and in correspondence with European decision-makers, a copy of which was obtained by AP, WADA told them such a measure could be adopted “without undue delay.”

The Europeans also asked WADA why the executive committee was taking up the issue again before a working group had finished its analysis.

A decision by the executive committee would have to be ratified by the WADA foundation board. Its next meeting is in November, though in the February letter to the Europeans, WADA said that board could meet sooner.

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