![South Africa fan trolls Nathan Lyon [Source: X]](https://onecricketnews.akamaized.net/parth-editor/oc-dashboard/news-images-prod/1793188807750_NathanLyonTrolled.jpg?type=hq)
South Africa fan trolls Nathan Lyon [Source: X]
A South Africa fan at the Newlands Cape Town Stadium on October 27 brutally trolled the Australian cricket veteran Nathan Lyon on the field. For the unaware, South Africa is currently hosting Australia for a three-match Test series, with the final game of the series currently being played.
Notably, Nathan Lyon, who is one of the crucial figures in Australia's spin department, was found being trolled by the live audience at the stadium with a sandpaper, mocking the visiting side's inability to topple Proteas' batters.
South Africa fan waves sandpaper to mock Nathan Lyon
A video from the mobile camera of a fan from South Africa, recorded from the background, captured another Proteas fan wearing a South Africa jersey, seemingly laughing and casually teasing Nathan Lyon at the boundary line with a sandpaper in his hand.
As the fan provoked and intimidated Lyon, the cricketer, who came towards the boundary line to take his fielding position, first swerved his hands towards the field to gesture to the fan to come inside and then didn't respond aggressively but smiled away the tease.
Watch the clip below:
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The fan later almost attempted to jump the fence and enter the field to hand Nathan Lyon the sandpaper. The situation didn't escalate as Lyon eventually turned his back on the fan and engaged in the game.
Meanwhile, the fan laughed at the camera with a mocking gesture towards the Australian team. This incident took place on October 27 while South Africa was still batting on Day 1, and for the unaware, the Australian cricket team and sandpaper have a lot of contextual history.
What is the Australia vs South Africa sandpaper controversy from 2018?
The sandpapergate incident dates back to 2018, when South Africa and Australia were playing in Cape Town. Australian batter Cameron Bancroft was caught on television cameras using a piece of yellow sandpaper to rough up one side of a cricket ball.
That usually gives a massive advantage to the pace bowlers, allowing them to reverse-swing the ball in the air. Then, when confronted by the on-field umpires, Bancroft hid the sandpaper down his trousers and also lied in a press conference about his deed.
What aggravates the matter even more is that Steve Smith, who is currently in the squad for the Australia vs South Africa 2026 Test series, was the captain of the 2018 side, and he admitted that he knew about the sandpaper plan, which the team devised before the match, but later failed to stop it.
Steve was eventually banned from international and domestic cricket for 12 months and was also stripped of the captaincy tag, while David Warner, another mastermind behind the plan, was banned from international and domestic cricket for 12 months.
