St George’s Park Cricket Stadium

St George’s Park is a cricket stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. It was opened in the year 1882 with a capacity of 19,000 people. This stadium is also termed as Sahara Oval or Crusaders Ground.

This stadium is mainly used to host Test matches and the One Day Internationals in South Africa. It is the home of the Eastern Province Club since 1889 and Port Elizabeth Cricket Club since 1882, and the Warriors since 2004.

The stadium is famous for its brass band that plays during major matches, adding a unique flavor to its atmosphere.

History

The Port Elizabeth Cricket Club was founded on August 14, 1882, and it is the first and the oldest bowling club in the country, since then this stadium is home for them.

The 2009 Indian Premier League matches were hosted in this stadium and it was among the eight stadiums chosen in to host 2009 IPL.

Major Matches

On 9 December 1992, the first ODI was played in this stadium between South Africa and India. The first test match was held between South Africa and England on 12th to 13th March 1889.

The highest total records in this stadium in three formats are 335/6 (50 Over) in an ODI match between Pakistan and RSA and 549/7 (117 Over) in a Test match between Australia and RSA.

Recent Matches

The recent test match on this stadium was played from 26 December to 29 December 2017, between South Africa and Zimbabwe. It was the first official four-day test match in the history of cricket.