The Kingsmead Cricket Ground for South Africa is what the Melbourne Cricket Ground is for the Australia. The common thread bonds the two historical cricket ground is that both the grounds usually host the Boxing Day test matches in these two grounds. Let us know more about this ground.
The Kingsmead Cricket Ground
Basic Details about Kingsmead Cricket Ground
Location: 2, Kingsmead Way, Durban, 4025, South Africa
Capacity: 25, 000 fans
End Names: Umgeni End and Old Fort End
First Ever Test Match: South Africa Vs England on 18th January, 1923
First Ever One Day International Match: South Africa Vs India on 17th December, 1992
First Ever Twenty20 International Match: Kenya Vs New Zealand on 12th September, 2007
Tenants: The South African Cricket Team and the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins
More about Kingsmead Cricket Ground
Situated just near to the sea, the Kingsmead is often referred with a famous myth called ‘the tide affects batting condition’. The myth has come from many batting collapses this ground has witnessed in the past and thus people think that the batting conditions on Kingsmead changes as per the tide changes in the sea nearby. But actually the Kingsmead, Durban wicket is popular among the seam bowlers and thus they have been successful to bring such collapses in the past.
The Kingsmead is situated at a position where it can accumulate plenty of humid climate, powerful thunderstorms and also bad light stopping the play. The ground is a mixture of corporate boxes, huge stands and grass banks. Kingsmead has also witnessed a timeless test in 1939 when England had to catch the boat to go back home and the match was ended in a draw.
In its rich history Kingsmead has seen the home team South Africa building up a huge score of 658 for 9 against West Indies and demolishing India for just 66 runs in 1996. Some of the best cricketing performances at Kingsmead are 275 by Garry Kirsten in tests, 128 by Brian Lara in the ODIs and 89* by Justin Kemp in T20Is as batsmen. While the best performances by the bowlers are 8/69 by Hugh Tayfield in tests, 6/23 by Ashish Nehra in ODIs and 4/13 by Rudra Pratap Singh in T20Is.
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