Sections of the awning fell from the roof at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, causing a halt in play during the Australia-Sri Lanka 2023 ODI World Cup match on Monday (October 16), reports Sarah Waris from the venue.

Lucknow was greeted with a hot and humid Monday, but the weather changed drastically in the evening, with sudden showers that caused a short stoppage in play for half an hour in the first innings. This was followed by a strong dust storm, which blew across and paper bags into the field of play, forcing wicketkeeper Josh Inglis to run across and play trash collector. Australia’s players were also forced to shield their faces from the debris.

Moments later, there was a five-minute delay as frames from the roof of the stadium holding up a banner fell down into the lower stands, forcing the spectators to panic and run towards the upper part of the stands.

The banners fell down on two different occasions: The first time, the awning fell down outside of the viewing areas and play continued. A few moments later, in the 43rd over of the first innings, the banners fell down again, this time falling into the stands, forcing the spectators to flee.

Play was halted for over five minutes as the loudspeakers asked the fans not to panic and move towards the upper stands, under the roof. The action only resumed when the winds had comparatively become lighter and the safety of the fans was ensured.

“We’re worried about the wind and the damage it can do from a spectator’s point of view as much as anything else,” said ICC commentator Ian Smith during the interval. “You can see it’s not just the hoardings themselves, it’s the scaffold and the structures that have been holding them together. Some of them have blown down as well and that has presented quite a dangerous element to some of the spectators in the grandstand. So I think they’re fully justified in holding off until we can get a bit of a break in the weather. It absolutely disintegrated in the wind, so we have a few questions to answer before we get on with Australia’s reply.”

After Sri Lanka’s innings, the play was scheduled to start at 6.34 pm IST but was stalled for 21 minutes due to the excess dust storm. The wicket was covered as a result, and play began only at 6.54 pm IST.

After the break, spectators were asked to vacate the lower stands, with the entire crowd being limited to the upper blocks for safety purposes.

The ICC confirmed that no spectators had been injured when the roof fell.

Earlier, the Ekana also faced electricity cuts five times, with the lighting under the roof going out. Play, however, was not affected, as the floodlights continued shining bright.

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