IND vs AUS: Adelaide floodlight failure forces stoppage in play twice in one over on Day 1 | Cricket News
Bad lights can often cause stoppages in Test cricket. But what if bad floodlights were also hanging around the field of play, as they did during the India-Australia pink-ball Test at Adelaide Cricket Ground on Friday?
As the game moved in deep during the twilight phase after the hosts bowled India out on 180, Australia were pushing hard after fending off the new ball attack from Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. Following the loss of opener Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney and Marnus Labuschagne put on a stoic guard for Australia after the tea break.
However, the floodlights went off twice during the 18th over bowled by Harshit Rana, forcing two-minute stoppages in play as the entire ground drifted into darkness. The beaming lights first switched off at the 17.2-over mark and came back on almost instantly. However, two deliveries later, the stadium went dark again, forcing a lengthier break as the Indian slip-fielders, including captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant huddled together. A visibly distraught Rana was seen gesturing frustratingly as the lights switched off when he got into his delivery stride.
Pink-Ball floodlight failure in India
However, this is not the first time the pink-ball game has seen stoppages due to floodlight failures. In fact, during India’s first experiment with the pink ball in the Duleep Trophy in 2016, a floodlight failure interrupted play for over an hour during the first league match in Greater Noida.
The match witnessed three of the six light towers conk off twice in the final session, forcing the players to leave the field, before play resumed and went on past 9pm.
