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‘He hit the wrong switch’: Nathan Lyon accepts blame for Adelaide Test's bizarre floodlights controversy
Nathan Lyon revealed the real story behind the bizarre floodlights controversy in the India vs Australia Adelaide Test.
After taking a 1-0 lead in Perth in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India crumbled to a 10-wicket defeat against Australia in the second Test in Adelaide. It was a pink-ball affair, which saw India's batting struggles continue. The match also saw some bizarre drama on Day 1, as players and fans were left totally confused at the Adelaide Oval, when the floodlight towers at the venue failed twice in the 18th over of Australia's first innings, and it led to brief delays.
Meanwhile, India pacer Harshit Rana, who was bowling in that over, also made his annoyance visible. When it happened the second time, the crowd began to turn on the torches on their mobile phones. The incident also led to the final session being extended by three minutes.
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Local media reported that the Australian team had requested the management to turn on the lights in the practice nets, which led to the chaotic confusion as the floodlight towers in the match were turned off instead. Speaking on Seven's coverage, spinner Nathan Lyon was asked, “It led back to me that the lights went off twice and you were the reason for that because you’re the nightwatchman and you wanted to go out and have a hit.”
“So you said to the bloke, ‘Put the lights on in the nets so I can have a hit’, and he hit the wrong button twice and turned the whole ground lights off.”
Nathan Lyon accepts blame
In response, Lyon confirmed the rumours. He said, “I couldn’t believe that.”
“I was actually with our assistant coach ‘Boro’, sitting out there in the dark and the security guard asked us, and we said, ‘If you could put the lights on that’d be great, I need all the help I can get’. Then next minute it went off.
“I literally said to Boro, ‘I reckon he’s hit the wrong switch’. We sat out in the dark there for about 15 minutes waiting to have a hit.
“I’ll take that one, getting blamed for someone not knowing how to turn the lights on,” he added.
Both sides are now up against each other in the ongoing third Test match at The Gabba, with the series level at 1-1.
