World Cup venues: New Zealand - From the intimidating Eden Park to picturesque Saxton Oval
A mixed bag of size, scale and beauty
Monday 16 February 2015 12:26, UK
With one month to go till the World Cup starts, we guide you through the venues for this year's tournament. Now it's the turn of New Zealand...
EDEN PARK (Auckland)
Capacity: 50,000
Guide to the Ground: The venue for two Rugby Union World Cup finals (1987, 2011), Eden Park also hosted four matches in the 1992 Cricket World Cup, three group games – all won by New Zealand – and a semi-final in which the Black Caps were pipped by eventual champions Pakistan.
Highest team ODI total: 340-5 (NEW ZEALAND v Australia, Feb 2007)
Highest individual ODI total: 140 (Glenn Turner, NEW ZEALAND v Sri Lanka, Mar 1983)
Best bowling in an ODI innings: 6-30 (Waqar Younis, New Zealand v PAKISTAN, Mar 1994)
England’s record: P10 W5 L5
2015 World Cup games:
Feb 28: New Zealand v Australia
Mar 7: Pakistan v South Africa
Mar 14: India v Zimbabwe
Mar 24: Semi-Final #1
HAGLEY OVAL (Christchurch)
Capacity: 20,000
Guide to the Ground: Hagley Oval, the venue for the opening game of the World Cup, held its maiden two ODIs in January 2014 before hosting its first Test in December. The ground was developed after Christchurch’s Lancaster Park was damaged during the 2011 earthquake.
Highest team ODI total: 341-9 (SCOTLAND v Canada, Jan 2014)
Highest individual ODI total: 175 (Calum Macleod, SCOTLAND v Canada, Jan 2014)
Best bowling in an ODI innings: 5-68 (Khurram Chohan, Scotland v CANADA, Jan 2014)
England’s record: N/A
2015 World Cup games:
Feb 14: New Zealand v Sri Lanka
Feb 21: Pakistan v West Indies
Feb 23: ENGLAND v Scotland
McLEAN PARK (Napier)
Capacity: 20,000
Guide to the Ground: McLean Park has been a happy hunting ground for New Zealand. The Black Caps were victorious in their first eight ODIs at the ground and have won 22 of their 37 completed matches there, while it is also the venue for their highest ODI score on home soil.
Highest team ODI total: 373-8 (NEW ZEALAND v Zimbabwe, Feb 2012)
Highest individual ODI total: 141no (Ricky Ponting, New Zealand v AUSTRALIA, Mar 2005)
Best bowling in an ODI innings: 5-30 (Muttiah Muralitharan, New Zealand v SRI LANKA, Jan 2001)
England’s record: P5 W2 L1 T2
2015 World Cup games:
Mar 4: Pakistan v UAE
Mar 8: New Zealand v Afghanistan
Mar 15: UAE v West Indies
SAXTON OVAL (Nelson)
Capacity: 5,000
Guide to the Ground: New to international cricket, the extremely picturesque Saxton Oval, replete with white-picket fence and mountain views, has only hosted two previous ODIs, but the South Island ground was used in the 2011 Rugby World Cup as a base for the Italy and Australia teams.
Highest team ODI total: 285-6 (NEW ZEALAND v West Indies, Jan 2014)
Highest individual ODI total: 103 (Kane Williamson, NEW ZEALAND v Sri Lanka, Jan 2015)
Best bowling in an ODI innings: 3-59 (Tim Southee, NEW ZEALAND v Sri Lanka, Jan 2015)
England’s record: N/A
2015 World Cup games:
Feb 16: Ireland v West Indies
Feb 19: UAE v Zimbabwe
Mar 5: Bangladesh v Scotland
SEDDON PARK (Hamilton)
Capacity: 12,000
Guide to the Ground: Famed for its village-green style that offers a picnic atmosphere for spectators, Seddon Park, named after former New Zealand prime minister Richard 'King Dick' Seddon, is located close to Hamilton’s centre. The stadium hosted two 1992 World Cup matches.
Highest team ODI total: 363-4 (WEST INDIES v New Zealand, Jan 2014)
Highest individual ODI total: 181no (Matthew Hayden, New Zealand v AUSTRALIA, Feb 2007)
Best bowling in an ODI innings: 4-21 (Andre Adams, NEW ZEALAND v India, Jan 2003)
England’s record: P2 W0 L2
2015 World Cup games:
Feb 15: South Africa v Zimbabwe
Mar 10: India v Ireland
Mar 13: New Zealand v Bangladesh
UNIVERSITY OVAL (Dunedin)
Capacity: 6,000
Guide to the Ground: Lined by trees, University Oval was expanded and had its pitch rotated ahead of Otago moving there in 2004, but its biggest claim to fame is that it was the ground where DRS was officially launched, in a Test between New Zealand and Pakistan in November 2009.
Highest team ODI total: 360-5 (NEW ZEALAND v Sri Lanka, Jan 2015)
Highest individual ODI total: 170no (Luke Ronchi, New Zealand v Sri Lanka, Jan 2015)
Best bowling in an ODI innings: 4-19 (Rob Nicol, NEW ZEALAND v Zimbabwe, Feb 2012)
England’s record: N/A
2015 World Cup games:
Feb 17: New Zealand v Scotland
Feb 22: Afghanistan v Sri Lanka
Feb 26: Afghanistan v Scotland
WESTPAC STADIUM (Wellington)
Capacity: 33,000
Guide to the Ground: As well as a venue for international cricket, Westpac Stadium, built on disused railway land, has welcomed rugby league, football and WWE events, not to mention the Edinburgh Military Tattoo and musicians such as AC/DC, The Rolling Stones and Bon Jovi.
Highest team ODI total: 322-5 (New Zealand v AUSTRALIA, Dec 2005)
Highest individual ODI total: 156 (Andrew Symonds, New Zealand v AUSTRALIA, Dec 2005)
Best bowling in an ODI innings: 5-23 (Shane Bond, NEW ZEALAND v Australia, Feb 2007)
England’s record: P2 W0 L2
2015 World Cup games:
Feb 20: New Zealand v ENGLAND
Mar 1: ENGLAND v Sri Lanka
Mar 12: South Africa v UAE
Mar 21: Quarter-Final #4
* All statistics correct as of January 24, 2015
