19 Apr 2010

IPL semi-finals moved from Bangalore after bomb blasts

6:45 am on 19 April 2010

The Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket finals have been moved away from Bangalore amid upgraded security after bomb blasts at an IPL match there injured 14 people.

A decision to move the tournament's semi-finals and final to the city of Navi Mumbai was made after two blasts outside Chinnaswamy Stadium, where the Bangalore Royal Challengers and the Mumbai Indians were about to take the field on Saturday.

Indian cricket icons Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble were playing in the game, which started an hour late with increased security at a packed stadium.

New Zealand TV commentator Simon Doull was in the stadium and described the bombings as "frightening", questioning whether the match should have gone ahead.

Doull says he knew was a bomb but given nobody was killed and that the blast took place outside the stadium, hat 90 per cent of people inside the stadium probably wouldn't have known what happened.