The Sahara stadium is one of Southern Africa’s most popular cricket destinations and hope to the well-known Dolphins team. Unlike many stadiums within South Africa, the Kingsmead stadium is one of few that wasn’t revamped for the 2010 FIFA world cup as it doesn’t host any games other than cricket. However, the stadium remains up to date and is well taken care of, thanks to regular cricket games that help the management team maintain the stadium and apply upgrades where needed.
The stadium offers an excellent range of facilities, allowing thousands to attend each cricket game, but for those watching at home, the stadium is known for broadcasting international games as well as national matches. The first major game involved South Africa and England, way back in 1923 on the 18th of January. Ever since, the stadium has become one of the moist popular within the country, especially with it’s Boxing Day test games, which has recently been rescheduled.
About Sahara Stadium
The stadium offers an impressive capacity for 25,000 people, which doesn’t include the grass patches available, offering seats to another 100 or more people for each game. To provide everyone with the perfect view, the Sahara Stadium includes two huge screens, offering live camera views as well as updates scores and additional important details regarding the current match.
The stadium is located in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, which is about a 7 hours drive from Johannesburg and only about 30 minutes from the King Shaka International Airport within Durban.
Since the stadium is located to close to the beach, there’s a myth that changes in tide have an effect on the grounds during a game. Though mostly joking, there have been many batting collapses that were blamed on the change in tide, making the stadium an interesting test ground as things could change completely, that’s if it really has an effect of course.
History and Interesting Matches
Perhaps the most interesting match even played at Sahara Stadium was in 1939 when the South African credit team was once again accepted into international cricket games. The game was played against England, taking place as none other than Sahara Stadium Kingsmead.
Of course, the above match doesn’t take anything away from the first even international test played at the grounds, which also involved the South African and English team. After five days of playing, the match resulted in a draw.
In 2007, on the 19th of September, the stadium became even more famous as Yuvraj Singh had an iconic game by getting six consecutive sixes at the grounds. This occurred during a Twenty20 match between India and England, making it a match to remember as the fastest 50 score in cricket.
Other important noteworthy events include the first ODI in 1992 between South Africa and India, the first T20I match in 2007 between Kenya and New Zealand and of course playing a part in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.
