-with AAP

The last thing Australia's under pressure batters needed was an additional distraction last night as they came out to bat under lights.

So when the Adelaide Oval lights went out, it was most unwelcome.

Stadium management have blamed an "internal switching issue" after all of the ground's lights towers turned off twice in a matter of minutes yesterday.

Only the smaller lights in the grandstands remained on, with thousands of spectators switching the torches on their phones.

It was a reluctant statement from venue management when explaining the situation during the day-night Test.

"We had a brief internal switching issue that was quickly identified and rectified."

Last year, Adelaide Oval management spruiked a $5 million LED upgrade to the ground's lighting system.

It was hailed as "the only major stadium in Australia with tower lights equipped with both immaculate white sports lighting and full colour 'light show' capabilities".

"LED allows for two things – instant switch on and off of a focused, consistent lighting level across the field of play, as well as new capabilities including colour, flash and animation," the statement in December 2023 read.