Twitter goes berserk as floodlights go off at the Wankhede in the middle of MI vs KXIP game

The Mumbai Indians (MI) are currently locking horns with the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Both teams are desperate for a victory in order to stay afloat in the 2018 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Ravichandran Ashwin won the toss and elected to field first. The decision backfired as Evin Lewis and Suryakumar blazed away to a partnership of 37 runs off 19 balls.

Though Lewis strained to get the ball away, Surya found the boundaries at will. Both looked ominous for the visitors and threatened to take the game away. However, Andrew Tye cleaned up Lewis and struck first blood for Punjab. Ishan Kishan stomped in and signalled his intentions from the outset. To Mumbai’s agony, he couldn’t survive for long and became Tye’s second victim.

The left-hander played an ugly hoick off Tye’s trademark knuckleball and the ball traced into Marcus Stoinis’ hands. On the next delivery, the Australian bowler delivered a body blow when he nipped out Surya with yet another clever piece of variation. Rohit Sharma’s campaign went from bad to worse as he perished cheaply. Ankit Rajpoot hurled in a bouncer and it got big on the right-handed batsman.

Floodlights go for a toss

Rohit went for the pull but was late on the shot. As a result, the ball spooned up in the air and Yuvraj Singh, who made a comeback in the match, completed a simple catch at the mid-on region. The onus was on Krunal Pandya and Kieron Pollard to resurrect the derailed innings. However, a bizarre incident panned out after the tenth over with the score at 79/4.

Two light towers blanked out and half of the venue was engulfed in darkness. The players went off the field and the lights took five minutes to work properly. Luckily enough, the play wasn’t halted for a long time and Krunal and Pollard took charge after the short break. Meanwhile, Twitter couldn’t keep calm and made fun of the undesired incident.

Here are the reactions:

Lights are off mid-game. Whhhaaaaatttttt. pic.twitter.com/n7djubKTQ5

— Prithi Ashwin (@prithinarayanan) May 16, 2018

Thank god they didn't Sing Happy Birthday and cut a cake. ? https://t.co/8sipBNVQ3E

— Prabhu ? ‏ (@Cricprabhu) May 16, 2018

The floodlight issue at the Wankhede is quite regular I feel, wonder why? #MIvKXIP #IPL

— Anish Telkikar (@telkikar_anish) May 16, 2018

Bookies not happy with that clatter of wickets…cut the wires… #ipl

— Innocent Bystander (@InnoBystander) May 16, 2018

Such has been Mumbai's run at home that even the light towers have decided to showup.

— Nikhil ? (@CricCrazyNIKS) May 16, 2018

Ambani sir has switched off floodlights in wankhade ..?
Hope umpires and zinta gets the script in between ..#MIvKXIP

— -CR7 PAAJI- (@Kakarla07) May 16, 2018

The umps are back on the field while the floodlight towers have started illuminating. Expect resumption in 10 to 15 mins #MIvKXIP

— Amol Karhadkar (@karhacter) May 16, 2018

Floodlights are bored of MI's pathetic batting too.? #IPL

— Prasad Suroshe (@PrasadSachinist) May 16, 2018

Apparently Wankhede Staff did not pay their Reliance Electricity Bill and the Floodlights connection has been terminated. #MIvKXIP

— Chandler Bing (@SarcasmChamp) May 16, 2018

All these floodlight malfunctions remind me of those orange ball t20s in Pakistan where they had to switch off two towers every game coz the nearby public complained

— « vipul » (@AmSoDone) May 16, 2018