IND vs AUS, Pink Ball Test: Adelaide floodlight failure Pink Ball Test: Adelaide floodlight failure forces stoppage in play twice in one over | 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 it did during the India-Australia pink-ball Test in Adelaide on Friday?
As the game moved in deep during 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.
However, the floodlights went off twice during the 18th over bowled Harshit Rana, forcing stoppages in play as the entire ground drifted to darkness. The beaming lights first switched off at the 17.2 over mark and switched back on almost instantly. However, two deliveries later, the ground 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 draught Rana was also seen gesturing frustratingly as the lights switched off as 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.
