VIDEO: Peter Nevill defends his ‘sneaky’ work behind the stumps; calls the stumping ‘fair’

Nevill's ‘smart-work’ behind the stumps had left the cricket followers a divided house, with some calling it morally unfair while others calling it absolutely fair.

Australia‘s wicketkeeper Peter Nevill defended his stumping to dismiss Sri Lankan batsman Dimuth Karunaratne on day four of the third and final Test between the two teams which is currently underway at Colombo. His ‘smart-work’ behind the stumps had left the cricket followers a divided house, with some calling it morally unfair while others calling it absolutely fair.

Here’s what had happened:

On a Nathan Lyon delivery, Karunaratne, who was beaten outside off stump by the bowler, casually lifted his back foot for a fraction of a second. The ever-alert Nevill, who was keeping a watchful eye on the wickets and Karunaratne’s back-foot, quickly removed the bails the moment he saw Karunaratne lift it in the air.

Some called it a ‘morally unfair’ act on social media:

Just saw that Peter Nevill stumping. Poor choice to do that.

— Marco Monteverde (@marcothejourno) August 16, 2016

This stumping explains why wicketkeepers have no friends.#RealOpeners#SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/9qdn6Yfk29

— Richard Hinds (@rdhinds) August 16, 2016

His former team-mate Mitchell Johnson defended it while calling it ‘game-awareness.’

Nice work @pmnevill game awareness #SLvAUS

— Mitchell Johnson (@MitchJohnson398) August 16, 2016

Neville himself came up with this reply when asked by a journalist after the day’s play whether it was right on his part to effect that dismissal:

Bang! Don’t bowl there to nifty Nev #SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/8HlC3Zw3Lk

— Cricket Video (@CricketVideo) August 17, 2016

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