The scoreboard at SuperSport Park in Centurion After a couple minutes of the players having left the field, we were told by the stadium announcer that they’d gone off because of pitch invaders of the insect kind. Picture: Michael Sherman/IOL Sport
Image: Michael Sherman/IOL Sport
There have been many frustrating delays to cricket matches throughout the history of the game, but none quite as bizarre as the one that hit the third T20 International (T20I) between South Africa and India at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Wednesday.
Attending the match as a spectator, I watched in astonishment as the players were escorted off the field by the umpires in the first over of the Proteas’ chase.
With little information communicated to the crowd, we could only speculate what the reason for the delay was.
However, flying ants or easels had descended on the ground in swarms and the Indian players in particular seemed to be having issues with the small insects.
It’s a common sight on the Highveld to see the flying ants emerge either before or after a storm, so it was not exactly an incident out of the ordinary for the Gautengers which packed the Centurion ground.
The combination of the rain around (there was a massive thunderstorm later in the evening) and the powerful floodlights served as a magnet for the flying ants.
After a couple minutes of the players having left the field, we were told by the stadium announcer that they’d gone off because of pitch invaders of the insect kind.
A notice of flying ants delaying play was also displayed on the big screen. The crowd was then shown close-up shots of the pitch with the little critters almost completely covering the playing surface.
I was concerned about how they could resume play anytime soon as the flying ants generally tend to hang around for a couple hours around sunset when the conditions are right. To my surprise, and credit to the ground staff, that they were able to get play going after a delay of around 30 minutes only.
Almost as bizarre as the reason for the delay, though, was the cure.
One member of the ground staff went around the pitch, but not on it, with a manual mower. It did not seem to be cutting grass from what we could tell from the stands, but we had to presume it was spraying some kind of insecticide. One of the floodlights was also turned off briefly which also may have helped the situation.
Ultimately, the players came back on and Heinrich Klaasen and Marco Jansen did exceptionally well to get South Africa within touching distance of the unlikely 220 needed for the win.
All in all, it was a thoroughly weird and exciting contest which will not soon be forgotten.