In a bizarre turn of events during the third T20I between South Africa and India in Centurion, the play was stopped for an unusual reason. Not due to rain, a break in the play came for flying ants who wreaked havoc by suddenly coming in numbers.
They were visible right from the start of the second innings, but the umpires decided to start the proceedings despite them flying all around the ground. However, soon their impact became more than tolerable, for they started troubling players on the ground by getting into their shirts and eyes.
Hence, after a brief discussion, the two on-field umpires decided to take players off the field because it was impossible to play flying all around and plenty of them also lying on the pitch.
These flying ants are common in that part of the world and usually come after a few days of rain, and there was some rain a few days before the play. So, when the weather becomes slightly warm and humid, they scout for areas to establish new settlements, so the same happened on the ground when the lights were on during the game.
It is not the first time flying ants have stopped the play in Centurion, for a similar incident unfolded at the same venue in 2009. It was during the Champions Trophy semifinal between Australia and England when the second innings was about to start.
Suddenly, a number of flying ants flew into the ground and on the pitch, and the umpires had to take players off. The delay lasted around 12 minutes before they were removed from the surface, and the play resumed.
While not flying ants, another similar incident including bees happened during an ODI game between South Africa and Sri Lanka in Johannesburg in 2017. A swarm of bees came and started buzzing over the players, who had to lie down with their faces towards the ground.
Later, they converged on Quinton de Kock’s helmet on the ground behind the wicketkeeper, which further delayed the proceedings. The ground staff had to use fire extinguishers, and the overall delay was around an hour.
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