Ladysmith comes to a standstill as KwaZulu-Natal defeat Bangladesh

Cricket-loving people of Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, voted with their feet today (Monday February 3) when they crammed into the Settlers' Park Cricket Ground for a World Cup lead-up match featuring KwaZulu-Natal and Bangladesh.

Cricket officials were so impressed with the turnout that they immediately pledged to look at the possibility of scheduling more first class matches at the stadium as a way to thank and further encourage the fans.

Said KwaZulu-Natal Cricket Union president Dr Logan Naidoo: "We cannot ignore this. We are pleasantly surprised by the interest for cricket shown in northern KZN and we have realised that the crowd here is in fact better than in most grounds in KwaZulu-Natal.

"We must congratulate the officials who put this together and we will certainly consider bringing more first class matches here," said Dr Logan.

Echoing his sentiments, CEO of the KwaZulu-Natal Cricket Board Cassim Docrat, said that bringing a high profile match to Settlers Park had been a great idea. "Thousands of people are represented here throughout our rainbow nation. It is truly a remarkable day, bearing in mind the rain delay."

An intermittent rain that delayed start of play by more than three hours did however not deter about 5 500 cricket fans.

"Once play got underway in a now 35-overs per side match, the enthusiasm of the crowd could not be equalled," said Cricket World Cup media liaison officer Joe Gengan, adding that no incident had been reported.

KwaZulu-Natal eventually ran out victors by 38 runs after bowling Bangladesh out for 153