Delhi-UP Ranji tie halted as man drives into pitch

New Delhi, Nov 3 - The third day's action of the Ranji Trophy fourth round match between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh came to an unusual halt in the final session of play on Friday after a man drove his car onto the field of play and into the pitch at the Palam A Ground here.

The man, who identified himself as Girish Sharma claimed he was lost and did not see any security personnel. 

His claims though weren't justified by his deliberate swerves to drive over the pitch twice, completely ignoring attempts from players and umpires to stop him.

The incident occurred at around 4.40pm, 20 minutes from close of play after the match officials took the half hour extension to make up for the over-rate. 

A number of international players like Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Ishant Sharma and Rishabh Pant were in the field when the incident took place.

The match referee deemed the pitch "playable" after examining potential damage. The match will begin as scheduled on the final day at 9.15 a.m.

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IANS