In a rare incident, Saturday’s ICC U19 World Cup 2022 Plate League Semifinal between Ireland and Zimbabwe experienced tremors of an earthquake that emerged at the coast of Port of Spain, the home to Trinidad’s Queen’s Park Oval.
The tremors were felt during Zimbabwe’s batting effort in the first half. Thankfully, there was no effect on the play. But the commentators gave a live account of the discomfort they experienced during their stint.
The fifth ball in the sixth over of the Zimbabwean innings, where spinner Matthew Humphreys was bowling to batter Brian Bennett, saw the front camera on live broadcast beginning to shake badly.
There was no hindrance to the action, with Bennett playing a defensive push off that delivery and also striking a boundary to Humphreys’ next ball. But those tremors certainly impacted the commentators.
The moment the front camera began to move back and forth, ICC commentator Andrew Leonard said it felt as if the entire “Queen’s Park Oval media centre is rocked” hard by something.
“We are… I believe we are having an earthquake right now. In the box. We are indeed having an earthquake (laughs). It felt like not just a train going by behind us, but the whole Queen’s Park Oval media centre rocked,”
Leonard’s remarks were detailed by ESPNcricinfo.
Thankfully, there were no further hiccups as the tremors soon died down, and the rest of the play and the commentary and broadcast took place smoothly till the end of the match.
The fixture saw Ireland come out victorious against their more experienced opposition after a dominating performance with the ball and bat.
They bundled out Zimbabwe for only 166, thanks to superb spells by Muzamil Sherzad (5/20) and Humphreys (3/32), before solid batting efforts from Jack Dickson (78*) and Tim Tector (76*) ensured a comfortable win for their side.
Victory has allowed Ireland to inch closer towards the Plate League title of the competition, the final for which will also be played at the Queen’s Park Oval on January 31.
