A swarm of bees interrupted a one-day international between Sri Lanka and South Africa for the second time in two years at the Cricket World Cup on Friday.
Play was stopped for several minutes as players and umpires hit the deck in the 48th over of Sri Lanka's innings at Chester-le-Street's Riverside Ground.
Players and umpires lie on the pitch after a swarm of bees sweeps over the ground.Credit:AAP
Laughter emerged from the crowd, who were unaffected by the swarm. The bees focused on the batting crease for several minutes.
The commotion did little to halt the momentum of South Africa, who limited their opponents to 203 all out at the innings break of their crucial Cricket World Cup clash.
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The on-field scenes were reminiscent of a match at South Africa's Wanderers Stadium in February 2017, when the two sides were forced to take similar evasive action.
In that instance, players were forced to leave the field when it became apparent the bees would not move on of their own accord.
Wanderers Stadium ground staff were able to temporarily move the swarm on with a fire extinguisher – only for the defiant insects to return.
Finally, a professional entered the field of play in full beekeeper attire, plastic box full of honeycomb in hand. Play resumed shortly thereafter.
Victory at the Riverside Ground would keep Sri Lankas semi-final hopes alive. After overcoming the loss of captain Dimuth Karunaratne in the first ball of the innings on Friday, Kusal Perera (3Read More – Source
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