City Oval (formerly Alexandra Park and sometimes called the Pietermaritzburg Oval), is a

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used by multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy tha ...

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; Zulu: umGungundlovu) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. The 12,000 capacity stadium is currently used predominantly for

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

matches, with the ground being used by KwaZulu-Natal Inland men's and women's teams,

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

and

Dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (t ...

(who also play at

Kingsmead Kingsmead may refer to: Places in England * Kingsmead, Bath, an electoral ward in Somerset ** Kingsmead Square, Bath * Kingsmead, Cheshire * Kingsmead, a district of Shenley Brook End in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire Other uses * Kingsmead ...

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

), and hosted two matches during the

2003 Cricket World Cup The 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup was the eighth Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya from 9 February to 23 March 2003. This edition of the World Cup was the f ...

. It is one of only three

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

grounds in the world to have a tree within the boundary ropes (the others being

St Lawrence Ground The St Lawrence Ground is a cricket ground in Canterbury, Kent. It is the home ground of Kent County Cricket Club and since 2013 has been known as The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, due to commercial sponsorship. It is one of the oldest grounds ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and

VRA Cricket Ground VRA Cricket Ground is a cricket ground in Amstelveen, the Netherlands, the home of VRA Amsterdam since 1939. It has a capacity of 7000 spectators and regularly plays host to the Netherlands home games in the World Cricket League, Intercontinen ...

Amstelveen Amstelveen () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands with a population of 92.353 as of 2022. It is a suburban part of the Amsterdam metropolitan area. The municipality of Amstelveen consists of the historical villages o ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

), and any cricketer that scores a

century A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

or takes a

five-wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Takin ...

in a match at the City Oval gets to plant a tree at the ground. The City Oval Pavilion is based on the design of Queen's Park cricket ground in

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

History

The City Oval, then known as Alexandra Park, hosted its first

match in 1894/95. Between 1895 and 1957, the City Oval hosted 9 first-class matches between

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

and

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

. The ground has been used to host many matches between South African A sides and touring cricket teams. First class matches were also played between Natal and Australians touring team in 1950 and 1958. In 2000, the City Oval hosted a

List A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

match between

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

and the South African Board President's XI; Charl Langeveldt took 5/7 as Bangladesh were bowled out for 51, and lost the match by 10 wickets. South Africa A have additionally played List A matches at the City Oval against Australia A in 2002/03 and Sri Lanka A in 2008/09. In July 2015, City Oval hosted three youth ODIs between South Africa U-19 team and Bangladesh U-19 team; South Africa U-19 won 2 matches, and Bangladesh U-19 won one match. In December 2015, the ground hosted a warmup match between South Africa A and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, which England won by an innings and 91 runs;

Alastair Cook Sir Alastair Nathan Cook (born 25 December 1984) is an English cricketer who plays for Essex County Cricket Club, and played for England in all international formats from 2006 to 2018. A former captain of the England Test and One-Day Intern ...

and

Joe Root Joseph Edward Root, (born 30 December 1990) is an English international cricketer, who plays for the England Test and One Day International (ODI) teams, and formerly captained the Test team. He also represents Yorkshire in English domestic ...

both hit centuries, and

Moeen Ali Moeen or Moein or Moien is a given name and surname. It is a Quranic name which means: helper, supporter, or provider of refuge. Notable persons with the name include: Persons with the given name * Moein (singer) (born 1951), Iranian singer * ...

took 6/77 in the second innings.

2003 Cricket World Cup

The City Oval has hosted two

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

(ODI) matches, both of them in the

. Prior to the World Cup, the ground was renovated, with the introduction of the Jubilee Stand, named to commemorate

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

diamond jubilee A diamond jubilee celebrates the 60th anniversary of a significant event related to a person (e.g. accession to the throne or wedding, among others) or the 60th anniversary of an institution's founding. The term is also used for 75th annivers ...

in 1897. The first ODI at the ground was played between

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. In the first over of the match, Sri Lankan

Chaminda Vaas Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas (born 27 January 1974) is a former Sri Lankan international cricketer, who played all forms of the game, and a former ODI captain who is often described as the greatest fast medium bowl ...

took 4 wickets, including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

with the first three balls of the match, the first time this had occurred in international cricket. Vaas' wickets were

Hannan Sarkar Hannan Sarkar ( bn, হান্নান সরকার) (born 1 December 1982) is a former Bangladeshi cricketer who played Tests and ODIs for Bangladesh. He made his Test debut aged only 19 as an opening batsman against Sri Lanka in July 20 ...

bowled off the first ball,

Mohammed Ashraful Mohammad Ashraful ( bn, মোহাম্মদ আশরাফুল; born 7 July 1984) is a Bangladeshi cricketer, who has represented the Bangladesh national cricket team, captaining the team in all formats of the game. A top-order batsman ...

caught and bowled off the second ball, Ehsanul Haque was caught by

Mahela Jayawardene Denagamage Praboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene ( si, දෙනගමගේ ප්‍රබෝත් මහේල ද සිල්වා ජයවර්ධන; born 27 May 1977) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who is the current consultant coach ...

slip Slip or SLIP may refer to: Science and technology Biology * Slip (fish), also known as Black Sole * Slip (horticulture), a small cutting of a plant as a specimen or for grafting * Muscle slip, a branching of a muscle, in anatomy Computing and ...

off the third ball, and

Sanwar Hossain Mohammad Sanwar Hossain ( bn, সানোয়ার হোসেন; born 5 August 1973) is a former Bangladeshi cricketer, who was part of the Bangladesh squad for the 2003 Cricket World Cup. History The middle-order batter made his internat ...

off the fifth ball, making the score 5/4 from 1 over. He finished with figures of 6/25 from 9.1 overs with 2 maidens, as Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 10 wickets. The second ODI was between

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

; Indian batsmen

Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who captained the Indian national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the all time highest run-scor ...

and

Sourav Ganguly Sourav Chandidas Ganguly (; natively spelled as Gangopadhyay; born 8 July 1972), affectionately known as Dada (meaning ''"elder brother"'' in Bengali), is an Indian cricket administrator, commentator and former national cricket team captain w ...

scored a 244 run partnership for the second wicket, the seventh highest partnership at the

Cricket World Cup The Cricket World Cup (officially known as ICC Men's Cricket World Cup) is the international championship of One Day International (ODI) cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), e ...

as of 2016. Ganguly made 112 from 119 balls, and Tendulkar made 152 runs from 151 balls, his highest score in World Cup matches. India scored 311 runs, eventually winning the match by 181 runs. Tendulkar was awarded the

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

award.

International centuries

Two ODI centuries have been scored at the venue.

Five-wicket hauls

There has been only one five-wicket haul at the venue.

References

{{Reflist, colwidth=30em

External links

Cricinfo Website – Ground Page

Cricket grounds in South Africa Multi-purpose stadiums in South Africa Sports venues in KwaZulu-Natal 1888 establishments in the Colony of Natal Sports venues completed in 1888 Pietermaritzburg 2003 Cricket World Cup stadiums 19th-century architecture in South Africa