Sydney, Nov 27: Australia batsman Steve Smith, who scored 105 off 66 balls in the first ODI to help Australia beat India, said that Friday’s game was the longest that he has played in.

“The game went all day, longest 50-over game I’ve had, for sure. Don’t know what to put that down to. Obviously, a few people came on to the field in India’s innings and that took a bit of time. They (India) went 45 minutes over time above schedule, we were similar. Don’t know why; it certainly felt like a long time,” Smith told reporters after the match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Australia’s innings was disrupted briefly after the sixth over when a couple of protesters invaded the pitch holding placards saying ‘No $1B Adani Loan’, referring to an Australian mining contract awarded to the Indian business tycoon.

It took a while before the security guards reacted and escorted the protesters out of the field as players and umpires stood around wondering what was happening. The invaders were protesters against Adani Group and held ‘NO $1B ADANI LOAN’ placards.

The front of the protesters’ T-shirt read “#StopAdani”, while at the back, the emblazoned words read: “Stop Coal. #StopAdani. Take Action.”

According to Fox Sports, a group named ‘Stop Adani’ on Friday issued a press release, urging the State Bank of India not to approve a loan of $1 billion Australian dollars to Gautam Adani.

(IANS)