Sunrisers player leaves match midway to catch flight, franchise launches inquiry 

It was a bizarre moment when the South African all-rounder, Beyers Swanepoel, decided to abandon the intense final match of the Cricket South Africa Provincial One-Day Challenger Division One midway through, away from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 with eight overs remaining in the second innings, to catch the flight to the United Kingdom as he will appear in the County Cricket 2025. 

Beyers, representing the Lions side, had completed his full quota of 10 overs in which he ended up with three wickets for 44 runs at an economy rate of 4.4, with the team looking to defend 248 runs against the Titans at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on March 29. He is due to feature for the Worcestershire.

Shocking exit during live match raises serious questions

What makes this strange is that the Lions' side was not even fully aware of the plan of the player and were, in fact, allowed a substitute fielder for a brief period after he left the field with others under the impression that the 27-year-old had picked up a niggle and couldn’t spend time in the field.

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It wasn’t clear until an enquiry from Titans that it was revealed that Swanepoel had left the ground after saying goodbye to some of his teammates of the Lions side in the dugout before catching a flight at 7:30 in the evening. Once it was clear that the bowler didn’t have an injury, the Lions were forced to field only 10 players as they lost the contest on the penultimate delivery. 

Sunrisers Hyderabad initiate investigation into the incident

From the Pat Cummins-led side Surisers side, the CEO of the Lions side was extremely disappointed at the bowler’s actions, with the reports claiming that there has been a possibility of the team terminating his contract. The board’s domestic head, Eddie Khoza, has also launched an investigation into the incident. 

“I am extremely disappointed in Beyers. His actions go completely against the culture and values of the team, which we have worked to build for the last six years. He has let the union and the fans down.” The chief executive of the Lions side, Jono Leaf-Wright, expressed on ESPNcricinfo.

“We are investigating the matter and following protocol as per the NOC regulation. We will advise everyone accordingly on the way forward once the investigation is concluded within 48 hours.” Khoza was quoted as saying.

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