CPL Issues Clarification After TKR Vs BR Floodlight Controversy In All-Important Eliminator
Providence Stadium in Guyana suffered a floodlight failure during CPL 2024 eliminator (@GuyanaDailyNews/Facebook)
Barbados Royals toppled Trinbago Knight Riders by nine wickets in the Eliminator of the CPL 2024 season on October 1 at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. The match, however, was reduced to a five-overs affair in the run-chase after a floodlight failure had caused a two-hour delay.
The Knight Riders batted first and formed 168-5 from 19.1 overs before one of the floodlight towers went off. In response, the Barbados Royals were set a revised target of 60 in just five overs, where David Miller aced the chase with a clobbering 17-ball half-century.
Many fans and cricket experts expressed their displeasure over the outcome, with some alleging the revised target to be heavily in favor of the chasing team. Knight Riders all-rounder Andre Russell also vented out his frustrations on CPL organizers after his team was knocked out of the competition with a defeat in the Eliminator.
Amidst all the on-field action and off-field drama, the CPL has issued a clarification over cut-off times in case if any match gets stained with an unwanted or unexpected floodlight failure.
CPL issues statement after Eliminator floodlight incident
After a two-hour delay, the CPL 2024 Eliminator match between Trinbago Knight Riders and Barbados Royals was resumed at 11:01pm local time, even though 10:52pm was announced as the cutoff time before the start of the match. If the match had not proceeded further, the Knight Riders would have advanced to the second qualifier on the basis of finishing higher on the CPL 2024 points table.
However, the match resumed, with a revised target for the Royals no less, beyond the cut-off time. With several fans and cricket experts expressing their frustrations over the CPL organizers, the tournament’s official social media has now issued a clarification over the timing and floodlight controversy.
Taking to X, the league confirmed that while the match cut-off time was indeed allocated at 10:52pm, they revised it to be 11:01pm to factor for the time allowed for the change of innings.
The CPL also defended its decision of revising a five-over target for the Royals, claiming that the same was determined on the basis of the ICC approved DLS calculator.
Regardless, the outcome helped Barbados Royals to secure a spot in the second qualifier, where they will now face Guyana Amazon Warriors.
The match will also be hosted by the Providence Stadium in Guyana and the action will commence from 4:30 AM IST onwards on October 5.