The third One Day International (ODI) match between Sri Lanka and Johannesburg was interrupted by a swarm of bees. South Africa won the toss and elected to bowl first and started off well by dismissing Sri Lanka’s 4 top order batsmen for just 117 runs. However, during the 27th over bowled by Chris Morris, a bee invasion forced the players and umpires to lie down on the ground. At one time all 13 players and both umpires were lying face down on the field.
This forced players to stop the game and lie down on the ground. Bees came in numbers and it looked scary while it lasted. Finally, a fire extinguisher was brought in to disperse the bees but all efforts went in vain as play couldn’t be resumed.
The bees spent about 65 minutes in the middle and it was very frustrating for players and fans in the stadium. Initially, the players returned to the field after a delay of more than 20 minutes but again left the field because there were still bees where South Africa’s wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock had to stand. Finally, the match started after a total stoppage of almost 65 minutes. Watch it here:
