Two bizarre things happened at Supersport park during the second ODI between India and South Africa.
First, South Africa collapsed against India’s wrist spinners with several soft dismissals and then the umpires deciding to take take lunch with India needing just 2 runs to win the match.
The umpires had already extended the first innings in the hope of getting a result but then with just 2 runs remaining, they call for lunch. A 40-minute break with just 2 runs to get. Let that sink in.
Twitter, of course, didn’t want to let that sink in and addressed the issue with commonsense and outrage:
Lunch has been taken at Centurion, with India 117/1, needing two more runs to beat South Africa and go 2-0 up in the ODI series.
— ICC (@ICC) February 4, 2018
Shikhar Dhawan (51*) and Virat Kohli (44*) have taken India to the brink. #SAvIND Scorecard ➡️https://t.co/8Vk2XxGHT7 pic.twitter.com/1yCOJLHXf8
Are You Serious??? Taking lunch with India needing 2 runs to win. Cricket is its own enemy. 🙈🙊 #SAvIND
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) February 4, 2018
With 2 runs to win, umpires call players off for lunch. THIS is why Cricket, in all its beautiful glory, is utterly frustrating to watch/cover because it is governed by archaic, stupid rules. Unbelievable! #SAvInd
— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) February 4, 2018
Cricket. 😂Amazing... this is why machines will take over from humans.
— Akarsh Sharma (@Akarsh_Official) February 4, 2018
Watching a cricket match after years. The umpires just called everyone off the field for a 30-minute lunch break with only 2 runs to go to end the match. This is why I prefer tennis. FB
— oindrila mukherjee (@oinkness) February 4, 2018
Rules are there, laws are there......but where is the common-sense?#SAvIND #INDvSA
— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) February 4, 2018
this is ridiculous...first umpires cite rules and allow 15 mins and 4 over extension to get result early and then says no more...get your 2 runs after lunch break.
— G. S. Vivek (@GSV1980) February 4, 2018
Well looks like umpires don't have plans for evening. And they don't want to take lunch in hotel and pay bills for it. So they decided to have a free meal at ground. 😂@ICC @bhogleharsha #IndiaVsSouthAfrica @cricketaakash @cricketwallah @BCCI @OfficialCSA
— Aniruddha Joshi (@janiruddha12) February 4, 2018
People often say the umpires have a tough job. They say you can't replace umpires with robots/technology because you need the human factor. Well, that robotic decision to take lunch makes you wonder if the job is tough because they're programmed not to think... Like a human.
— achettup (@TestingRhymes) February 4, 2018
ICC: We need to improve cricket’s standards and spread cricket to the new audiences throughout the world
— Sakun Sankalana ⚓️ (@Sakun_SD) February 4, 2018
Also ICC: Lets take a lunch break when the winning team only need 2 runs to win in an ODI match! #SAvIND
ICC is like SBI - Lunch ke baad aana.#SAvIND
— Nikhil 🏏 (@CricCrazyNIKS) February 4, 2018
