Floodlight malfunction adds to Wankhede's woes

The Wankhede Stadium, venue for the World Cup final on April 2, suffered yet another embarrassment when a light tower suffered a power failure during the match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand on Friday.

The incident occured when New Zealand were trying to chase down Sri Lanka's total of 265-9 but the players barely noticed the blip as there was enough light on the ground. "One of the generator sets on which the floodlight towers operate suddenly malfunctioned... but we immediately switched it on to alternative electric power and the lights were back on after seven minutes or so," Mumbai Cricket Association secretary Lalchand Rajput said. "Also, we have an arrangement such that there is enough illumination to continue the game even if such an accident occurs." In the lead-up to the tournament, the stadium was criticised by the city's top fire chief for not meeting safety standards before the organisers hastily fixed problems and it was declared safe days later. A mad scramble was also required to complete the construction work at the renovated stadium, which got an extension from the ICC to complete pending work.