South Africa and Sri Lanka players duck for cover as bees arrive at the Wanderers

South Africa's win over Sri Lanka on Saturday included a bizarre delay while players ducked for cover to avoid a swarm of bees.

Sri Lanka were midway through their innings in Johannesburg when players and umpires started going to ground.

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Pictures soon showed a massive swarm of bees had landed at the Wanderers with pink-clad South Africa fielders taking evasive action, lying on the ground and staying as still as possible.

Wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock couldn't resist a couple of quick press-ups as he looked to avoid getting stung.

The game had to be stopped for nearly an hour while the bees were cleared from the field, with a groundsman coming on with a fire extinguisher to try, unsuccessfully, to remove them.

After seeing the drama unfold on television, local beekeeper Pierre Hefer brought a box of honey to the ground to try and tempt the bees away from the playing surface.

"When they took out the fire extinguisher, I knew I had to get down here," Hefer said. "You see, you might get rid of them for a bit, but they'll come back, I thought they might be able to use my expertise."

Play was restarted after his intervention and South Africa went on to claim a seven-wicket victory in front of a crowd of 30,000 who, we can only hope, also managed to avoid getting stung.