Australia vs Sri Lanka World Cup 2023 match delayed due to heavy winds
The ICC World Cup 2023 match between Australia and Sri Lanka happening at the Ekana Stadium on Monday was delayed after heavy winds caused hoardings to fly onto the ground.
Published : Oct 16, 2023 18:05 IST , Chennai - 1 MIN READ
The ICC World Cup 2023 match between Australia and Sri Lanka happening at the Ekana Stadium on Monday was delayed due to heavy winds.
The incident happened in the 41st over of the Sri Lankan innings. Shortly after Mitchell Starc clean bowled Lahiru Kumara with a yorker, a strong gust of wind blew across the ground, leading to fine dust and some stray plastic bags flying around in the field of play.
However, the wind came back much stronger in the 43rd over, resulting in the branding coming off and falling on the seats below. A brief pause in play ensued, during which the public address system advised spectators to vacate the lower tiers of the stands and move to the seats higher up. The same announcement was repeated during the innings break after Sri Lanka was bowled out for 209.
Australian skipper Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc had a word with the on-field umpire before the ground was cleared up and the game resumed.
The match was earlier disrupted by rain, but the game continued on without any overs lost.
Sri Lanka started the match strongly with Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera putting on a hundred-run partnership. But Australia struck back with some disciplined bowling and committed out-fielding to bring itself back into the game.
Both Australia and Sri Lanka came into the game winless in the tournament.