Cricket fans flee as scaffold gives in

FANS were forced to flee from their seats after scaffolding collapsed from the roof at the Cricket World Cup.

The horrifying incident occurred during Australia’s clash with Sri Lanka at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, India for the 2023 ODI Cricket World Cup.

Sudden showers saw the match take a dramatic turn to force the game to pause for approximately 30 minutes.

Huge gusts of wind then stormed over the stadium, causing a dust storm and a banner on the stadium roof to detach and fall into the lower stands.

Spectators rushed away from their seats and into the upper sections of the stadium to avoid the debris.

Footage from the venue described a “stampede-like situation” during the final Sri Lankan innings as a banner fell from the roof.

This incident occurred twice during the game.

The first saw one fall outside of the viewing area which did not stop play, before the second came during the 43rd over of the first innings.

Play was then suspended for around five minutes as loudspeakers asked fans to remain calm and move to the upper stands.

The game was pencilled in to start again at 6:34pm IST (4:04pm GMT), but with the dust storm in full swing, play did not resume until 6:54pm IST once the safety of spectators had been confirmed.

The moment left Nasser Hussain astounded as fragments of the stands began to crumble, triggering a sudden surge in fan clamour and audible gasps from the commentary box.

The players and umpires, visibly concerned, attentively observed the unfolding scene, while television footage captured the sight of banners that had been forcefully blown onto the outfield.

The live feed also captured the moment when Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell were left in shock as the incident unfolded in the stands, causing the world cup hoardings to come crashing down.

The storm had carried a flurry of paper bags with it, which saw Josh Inglis playing the role of bin man as he took to the field to pick up the scattered rubbish.

During the terrifying incident, ICC commentator Ian Smith said: “We’re worried about the wind and the damage it can do from a spectator’s point of view as much as anything else.

“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.”

Wisden report the ICC confirmed no spectators had been injured when the roof fell.

England’s own Cricket World Cup hopes hang by a thread after a shock defeat to Afghanistan, who had won just one of their last 17 World Cup encounters.