During the match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Lucknow Supergiants on Saturday, the game had to be stopped for some time due to the bad behaviour of the spectators. In fact, following the controversial no-ball decision by on-field umpires Akshay Totre, J Madangopal and TV umpire Yashwant Barde, fans went berserk and hurled nut bolts to disturb the Lucknow dugout.
The incident happened in the 19th over of Sunrisers Hyderabad’s innings when Avesh Khan bowled a beamer to Abdul Samad, and Totre called it a no-ball. Sunrisers Hyderabad then took DRS, but the third umpire called it a legal ball. Meanwhile, the fans sitting behind the Lucknow dugout started shouting Kohli-Kohli; they aimed to tease the Lucknow mentor.
After the third umpire’s decision, Heinrich Klaasen, batting with Samad, spoke to the on-field umpires as television replays. The ‘ball tracker’ showed the ball going over the wicket with the batsman’s waist. After this, Lucknow Supergiants head coach Andy Flower, mentor Gautam Gambhir, and other team members exited the dugout and came to the boundary line. He was pointing something towards the audience gallery.
It looked like someone in the crowd had thrown something. According to reports, nuts and bolts were thrown by the spectators. The spectators were chanting ‘Kohli-Kohli’ along with it. He was probably trying to tease Gambhir, who spat with former India captain Virat Kohli sometime back.
‘Kohli Kohli’ chants the Hyderabad crowd in front of the Lucknow Supergiants’ dugout.pic.twitter.com/rRS6XGyTVe
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 13, 2023
The interruption distracted Klaasen, and he was dismissed as soon as the match resumed. After his innings, he spoke to the broadcasters and expressed his dismay at the behaviour of the spectators as well as the umpires’ decision. He said, To be honest, the audience was disappointed. You don’t want that. This upset my rhythm. Umpiring was also not good.
