Why are Australia, South Africa players wearing black armbands on Day 3 of WTC Final at Lord’s?
WTC final: Australia & South Africa observed 1 minute of silence before the start of play on Day 3 to pay respects to the lives lost in Ahmedabad plane crash.
Australia and South Africa observed one minute of silence before the start of play on Friday, Day 3 of the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Lord's Cricket Ground, to pay respects to the lives lost in yesterday's heartbreaking and tragic Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad. Players from both sides and the match officials are also wearing black armbands to show solidarity.
The players from both Australia and South Africa gathered on the ground earlier than usual to observe one minute of silence. Before the silence was observed, former Australia opening batter Matthew Hayden, who was recently inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame, rang the bell at the Lord's Cricket Ground to signal five minutes were left before the start of play.
Once the bell was rung, the players and officials walked out to the middle.
An Air India flight from Ahmedabad bound for London Gatwick Airport crashed shortly after taking off on Thursday. The incident resulted in 241 lives being lost and there was just one lone survivor.
There were 242 passengers and crew on board. According to the official passenger list, there were 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian.
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Vishwash Kumar Ramesh was the lone survivor of the fatal crash. He was seated on 11A, next to a left-side window in the economy section of the ill-fated aircraft. He was sitting near an emergency exit when the crash happened.
All you need to know about the WTC Final
The WTC final between Australia and South Africa is swinging by the minute and both teams are in with a chance of winning the Test mace. Australia capitulated in the second innings and were reduced to 73/7 at one stage after gaining a first-innings lead of 74.
However, Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc put together a stand of 61 runs for the eighth wicket to bring some respectability to the total.
Bowlers are having the times of their lives in the WTC final. On both Day 1 and Day 2, 14 wickets fell as the batters struggled to get the better of testing conditions at the Lord's Cricket Ground.
Kagiso Rabada and Pat Cummins emerged as the two standout performers after the end of both teams' first innings.
Australia are looking to defend their WTC title while South Africa are chasing their maiden Test championship win.
