Cricket World Cup: Part of stadium roof falls on fans during Australia-Sri Lanka clash

The Cricket World Cup clash between Australia and Sri Lanka was delayed after high winds caused part of the stadium roof to fall on fans in Lucknow.

A hoarding fell off the roof section of Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium landing on fans below.

The teams had already earlier been taken off during Sri Lanka’s innings for a half-hour rain delay before the match was halted again during the 43rd over when the winds increased. Dust from a sand storm was blowing across the playing surface while advertising banners at the top of the stands came loose and went onto the outfield, while debris from temporary structures also fell down into the spectator seats.

Massive hoarding fell off the stadium roof and landed dangerously on spectators during the windstorm in the Lucknow cricket stadium in India. @ICC @ICCMediaComms #Cricket #SLvAUS #WorldCup2023 pic.twitter.com/8d7EEoIvZ7

— Kya Hakav Wanith (@kyahakavwanith) October 16, 2023

“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 New Zealand commentator Ian Smith.

“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.”

Played restarted as Australia chased down Sri Lanka’s 209 to earn their first win of the tournament.