Asia Cup 2023: PCB left red-faced after floodlight failure for 20 minutes during Pakistan vs Bangladesh Super 4 clash

The first of the Super Four matches of the 2023 edition of Asia Cup, the only one of the six such matches held at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, witnessed a delay for a bizarre reason on Wednesday evening during the clash between Pakistan and Bangladesh. In the early part of the second innings, after Pakistan had kicked off their chase of 194 on a promising note to take a step closer to making the finals for the second consecutive year, the match was halted by the on-field umpires as one of the floodlights had stopped functioning leaving Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) red-faced.

Floodlight failure had stopped the Asia Cup match between Pakistan and Bangladesh for 20 minutes

It happened at the end of the fifth over of Pakistan's successful chase of 194 when the floodlights began to malfunction, leading to the match being stopped for close to 20 minutes. Pakistan openers Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq had gotten the team off to a cautious start against the Bangladesh new-ball pair of Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam, scorings 15 runs off the first 30 balls when one of the light towers went off.

The players were then seen leaving the field as there was insufficient light for the match to continue. The match remained halted for about 18-20 minutes before it started coming on and later resumed. The exact reason for the malfunction is yet to be known, but the incident sparked a meme fest on social media leaving PCB, one of the host organisations of the Asia Cup, embarrassed.