On Monday, October 16 in Lucknow, the 14th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 between Australia and Sri Lanka was postponed due to rain and strong winds. Despite a strong start, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 209 after captain Kusal Mendis of Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat first. Heavy gusts were blowing in the Ekana Stadium during the last moments of their inning, which even caused the hoardings to collapse into the audience. Fortunately, no fans suffered injuries, and the ground personnel moved fast to prevent any mishaps.
The workers swiftly cleaned up the mess to get the field presentable for the second inning after evacuating the fans. The wind also caused several World Cup brandings to become tangled and torn apart, but ground staff immediately resolved the issue.
Due to strong winds, hoardings are falling all over Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium.
Spectators running for safety.#CWC23 #AUSvSL #WorldCup2023 #Lucknow @BCCI @ICC pls remove these banners before the next match. pic.twitter.com/xxoqK775jK— Ali Taabish Nomani (@atnomani) October 16, 2023
Pathum Nissanka (61 off 67) and Kusal Perera (78 off 82), Sri Lanka’s openers, shared 125 runs for the first wicket off 130 balls earlier in the day. In the 22nd over, Australian skipper Pat Cummins bowled Nissanka out with a short ball to claim the team’s maiden wicket.
A few overs later, Perera joined him, losing his stumps to Pat Cummins. After being fired, Sri Lanka experienced a shocking collapse as Adam Zampa created a web around them. The wristspinner finished with 4/47 in eight overs after taking out Kusal Mendis (9 off 13), Sadeera Samarawickrama (8 off 8), Chamika Karunaratne (2 off 11), and Maheesh Theekshana (0 off 5).
Australia loses its first two wickets while chasing
In 43.3 overs, Sri Lanka slumped from 157/1 to 209 all out thanks to his spell. Mitchell Starc (2/43, 10 overs) and Pat Cummins (2/32) both took two wickets, and Glenn Maxwell took one, conceding 36 runs in 9.3 overs.
Australia, meanwhile, struggled to 24/2 in four over after losing two wickets early in their chase. Against Dilshan Madushanka, David Warner (11 off 6) and Steve Smith (0 off 5) both lost their wickets.
India
