India lost their one-day international cricket match against hosts Sri Lanka because anti-government activists invaded the pitch, a court heard Monday.
The match, part of a tri-nation tournament being held on the island, was held up on Sunday night as two men ran to the middle of the pitch and held up banners denouncing the government, as India began its innings under lights.
The men have been charged with criminal trespass, obstruction of a cricket match, and displaying anti-government banners, police said.
At a hearing at a magistrate's court in Colombo, police inspector S. A. S. Suraweera said India lost by six runs because they were "frightened" after the demonstration disrupted play for about three minutes.
"We have charged the two men on three counts and we also told the magistrate that India should have won the match if not for the disturbance caused by them," Suraweera said. "There was no formal complaint from the Indian team, but we know they lost because of the disturbance."
However, lawyers for the men said their demonstration was only aimed at the recent "dictatorial" action of the president in shutting down parliament and had nothing to do with cricket.
Colombo magistrate Priyantha Fernando freed the two men on bail of 20,000 rupees (222 dollars) each and adjourned the case until August 15.
The pitch invasion came despite tight security for the players by more than 200 uniformed and 100 plain-clothed police officers deployed in and around the ground.
Inspector Suraweera said the Indians were particularly worried because their captain Saurav Ganguly was believed to be under a kidnap threat from a Kashmiri militant group.
Ganguly was not in the middle when the men staged their demonstration, unfurling banners saying: "Defeat this dictatorship madness and protect democracy" and "Mothers and fathers rally and protect democracy."
They were protesting against a recent move by President Chandrika Kumaratunga to suspend parliament for two months to avoid a crucial no-confidence vote, which she was almost certain to lose.
Police quickly whisked away the men who had entered the grounds legitimately after buying tickets, match organisers said.
They said one of the demonstrators was an opposition United National Party (UNP) deputy from a provincial council, the highest level local government body in the country.
The pitch invasion was shown live on national television, but the broadcast was quickly replaced with a still image of the score board as the drama played out in the middle.
The demonstration came three days after police violently crushed a pro-democracy rally here, killing two people and wounding more than 80 others.
The street battles had caused concern among the visiting Indian team as well as the New Zealand team, who are also taking part in the tournament, but the local cricket board had assured them full protection.
The New Zealand team, which has a four-day break until their next match on Wednesday, is relaxing at the central hill resort of Kandy and is also due to travel to the southern beach resort of Bentota -- COLOMBO (AFP)
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