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The LED lights installed at the iconic stadium in Adelaide went off twice during the third session of opening day’s play of the ongoing 2nd Test between India and Australia.
Players wait after the floodlights went off during the day one of the second India-Australia Test at Adelaide Oval. (Picture Credit: AP)
The second Test of the ongoing five-match series between India and Australia is currently underway at the Adelaide Oval. The match, which is being played with a pink ball, kicked off on Friday (December 6). The hosts managed to dismiss India for just 180 runs in 44.1 overs on Day 1 and then ended the day’s play at 86 runs for the loss of one wicket in 33 overs.
During the third session of the first day’s play of the day-night Test, the LED lights at Adelaide Oval went out twice. The incident left players clueless on the field. A day after the incident made headlines around the world, it has been reported by Australian media that the light failure was caused due to the Australian team’s request for an evening training session in the nets.
“According to three sources with knowledge of events, the ground control room at the top of the Western Stand received a request for the net lights to be turned on for a throwdown session as Australia’s top order battled India. But when the computer-operated light settings were adjusted, the ground’s four light towers went out instead, stunning a crowd of 50,186,” The Age reported on Saturday morning.
According to the newspaper, the lights went out for the second time when the ground staff went out to turn the net lights.
“They went out to turn on the net lights so the night watchman could have a couple of throwdowns, and somehow they either turned them to the wrong thing or something tripped. It was about trying to get the net lights on,” a source told The Age.
The first delay lasted for 28 seconds at 3:52 pm IST, while the second lasted 86 seconds at 3:54 pm IST.
The new LED lights at the iconic stadium were installed by Cricket Australia in December 2023 for a cost of more than five million dollars. The stadium earlier had retractable lights in the 1990s before they were replaced by floodlights in 2000 and later upgraded in 2014. “We had a brief internal switching issue that was quickly identified and rectified,” Cricket Australia said in a statement.
