ICC Eden Park

On Saturday, at 12.15pm, my family and I headed to school to get on a bus with other students and some teachers to go and watch an ICC Cricket World Cup match.  It was South Africa vs. Pakistan.  School had been given 30 tickets to the game, and we all paid $5 for the bus.

When we arrived at school, the only people there were students, as well as Ms Elia who was not going to the cricket.  The teachers who were going were Mrs Adcock, Mrs Kumar and Mrs Raj, plus their husbands, and Mama and Papa.  Once they all arrived, we all took our seats on the bus, and off we went to Eden Park.

When we got to Eden Park, we hopped off our bus and walked around to the closest entrance to where our allocated seats were.  As we walked in, security guards checked our bags as we were not allowed any drinks (but we could take empty bottles in and fill them once we were inside).  When we got through security, we met in a group, filled our water bottles, and headed up to our seats.  Our seats were in an uncovered stand (so we got sun, and some of us put sunblock on), and we had a good view of the length of the cricket pitch.

South Africa were the first team to bowl so they took their positions on the field and the game started at 2.00pm sharp.  For the first 10 overs, the fielders had to be close in to the pitch, but could move out further for the remaining overs.

The Pakistan team batted well and after their first 4 (where the ball bounced then got to the boundary) they continued getting some 4s till they finally got a 6 (where the ball goes over the boundary without bouncing).  Most of their batters were caught out on the full, and at least one was out by LBW (leg by wicket).

The Pakistani team were all out for 222 runs.

Then South Africa came in to bat after the rain had fallen and they had had a short short dinner break.  The South African team had a high run rate, but they lost batters quickly.

A number of players reached high runs for their careers during this game, including one who had about 5,000 runs.

The South Africans were all out for 202, but unfortunately we did not get to see the end of the game, as we had had to leave on the bus in order to get back to school where the parents were waiting for children.

For some of the students it was their first time going to Eden Park, and for some it was their first time watching a cricket game, like Papa, Karl and I.  It was an excellent game and I really enjoyed it and appreciate Mrs Raj for organising it for our school.