Photo Credit: Gallo Images
The recent KFC T20 International series between South Africa and Australia was a resounding success for the KwaZulu-Natal Cricket Union and Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium.
The three matches, which were staged on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday were played in front of strong crowds with the Friday and Sunday matches being sold out.
Despite the results, the local Durban crowds flocked through to watch international cricket and support their side which included several up-and-coming Proteas stars.
The festivities didn’t end with the cricket as Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium continued their 100 year celebrations with beach cricket, a Women’s breakfast, a glitzy Night with the Stars on Thursday as a panel of some of South Africa’s biggest legends entertained the guests.
There was a golf day on Friday which continued the celebrations before the Friday night T20 International and then Saturday saw 100 teams participating in a huge KFC Mini Cricket festival on the Kingsmead main field. The ODI World Cup trophy also made a special visit to Kingsmead.
“To see so many people come through to support the Proteas over the three days just shows how important international cricket is to the people of Durban,” CEO of KZN Cricket Heinrich Strydom said.
“We’ve been working incredibly hard to make this past week as much of a success as possible and we feel we achieved that with two sold out matches and a strong turn-out on a Wednesday evening. We started with Operation Kingsmead four years ago and it was extremely rewarding to see the positive impact of all that hard work. Our pitch and outfield received a very rare 100% rating for the 3rd T20I.
“The appetite for cricket in Durban is strong and we cannot wait to welcome India to our ground later in the season.”
The Catch 100K initiative for the three-match series saw three lucky members of the crowd over the three matches take a clean one-handed catch which saw them each walk away with R100 000 in cash.
“It’s always satisfying to see people enjoying themselves in the crowd and with the chance of winning R100 000 people were hanging on every delivery bowled,” Strydom added.
The domestic cricket season begins on Saturday, 16 September with the Hollywoodbets Dolphins facing the GBets Rocks at Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium.
