It was an easy victory for the Lucknow Super Giants over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
This put them back in the running for a spot in the playoffs as IPL 2023 moves towards the league stage’s conclusion. The game saw an ugly scene involving the crowd after they were incensed by a strange call from the umpire.
Former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Simon Doull later criticized the unruly behavior of the audience. Who also started chanting “Kohli” during their performance.
SRH crowd behavior is criticized by Gavaskar and Doull
The third umpire overturned LSG’s no-ball review in the 19th over of SRH’s innings, citing the batter’s slight hunching as the reason. The two SRH batters as well as the commentators were shocked by the decision.
And Heinrich Klaasen was seen arguing animatedly with the on-field umpire. The home crowd was dissatisfied despite the fact that the batters had advanced.
During that over, there was some back-and-forth before some objects were thrown at the LSG dugout. Causing the umpire to stop playing. As LSG members exited the dugout and entered the field.
However, Gavaskar criticized the Hyderabad Cricket Association for failing to provide a suitable dugout for the players and the team personnel. “What’s hard to understand is that most dugouts have what we refer to as flexi-glass”, he said.
”We have beach umbrellas like these here, which offer no protection. Come on, the Hyderabad Cricket Association can provide proper dugouts instead of these crude structures you see. These are undoubtedly a concern and a problem”.
Following the infamous altercation at the Ekana Stadium on May 1. The crowd continued to cause trouble by soon starting to chant “Kohli, Kohli”, with LSG as the target.
As Doull noted in his commentary, “They’ve actually made it worse for their own team. We won’t go into the specifics of what they did. But it is really disappointing what they did ”.
The incident affected more than just the LSG players, though, as SRH only scored 13 runs in their final nine balls as a result. Later, an enraged Klaasen uttered these words: “I’m disappointed with the crowd, to be honest, that’s not what you want at your home venue”.
”You want people to want to play at your home venue, so you’re very disappointed. That stopped a lot of momentum. Some less-than-ideal umpiring decisions have been made. But that is part of the game, so you must move on ”.
Later, LSG secured a stunning seven-wicket victory thanks to Nicholas Pooran’s quick-fire innings.