- Cricket fans had to run for cover during the match against Australia
- Billboards fell due to weather turbulence in India
- The match between Australia and Sri Lanka was temporarily interrupted
Australia’s match against Sri Lanka was halted after flags and billboards fell into the stands in frightening scenes at the Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Mitchell Starc was stopped at the top of his mark in the first inning, with fans escorted to the back of the zone into Luckrow Hall.
The BBC claimed fans were “running to safety” after high winds knocked the objects off the roof.
Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell stared in the distance at a rectangular piece of metal crushed on seats.
No bystanders were injured during the incident, but there was a risk of serious injury to anyone sitting in the areas where the objects fell.
Australia’s match against Sri Lanka was halted after advertising hoardings fell in frightening scenes
A rectangular piece of metal was seen falling near spectators at the Ekana Cricket Stadium.
“We’re worried about the wind and the damage it can cause from a spectator point of view as much as anything else,” said former New Zealand star Ian Smith.
“You can see it’s not just the hoardings themselves, but also the scaffolding and structures that hold them together.
“Some of them also exploded and that presented quite a dangerous element for some spectators in the stand.
“So I think they are absolutely right to wait until we can get a bit of a reprieve in the weather.
“It completely disintegrated downwind, so we have a few questions to answer before we move on to Australia’s response.”
Australia played Sri Lanka for 209 runs, giving themselves a good chance of finally securing their first victory in this World Cup after losing their first two matches against India and South Africa.
This raises questions about the security of tournament venues in India
