According to reports from News24 on Wednesday, April 10, eight prominent stadiums in South Africa are set to host the 2027 ICC ODI World Cup. The tournament, tentatively scheduled for October and November 2027, will be jointly hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia.
The eight South African venues include the Wanderers in Johannesburg, Newlands in Cape Town, SuperSport Park in Centurion, Kingsmead in Durban, St George’s Park in Gqeberha, Boland Park in Paarl, Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein, and Buffalo Park in East London.
Three notable exclusions from the list of 11 accredited venues were Willowmoore Park in Benoni, JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom, and Diamond Oval in Kimberley.
Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) CEO Pholetsi Moseki acknowledged the difficulty of the decision to exclude these venues, as reported by South Africa’s News24.
“The exercise (of choosing the venues) was a scientific one and also included the number of hotel rooms and the availability of an airport. If there was disappointment, it was also tempered by the reality that was based on the venues that were chosen.”
“We do indeed have 11 ICC-accredited venues, so it was hard to leave out three, but a whole lot of things were taken into consideration. There’s also the important matter of training venues outside of the ones available at the venue,” said Moseki.
In addition to these venues, some matches will take place in Zimbabwe and Namibia. While South Africa and Zimbabwe have secured direct qualification for the tournament, Namibia will need to qualify through the African qualifiers.
What occurred during the previous Men’s ODI World Cup held in South Africa?
It has been more than twenty years since South Africa last co-hosted a Men’s ODI Cricket World Cup. We need to rewind to 2003 when South Africa, along with Zimbabwe and Kenya, hosted the event.
Australia had a memorable tournament as they dominated the competition, going undefeated to claim their third World Cup title. Led by Ricky Ponting, the Australian team defeated Team India by 25 runs in the final match, held in front of a full crowd in Johannesburg.
Meanwhile, it was yet another disappointing World Cup for co-hosts South Africa as they were eliminated from the tournament unexpectedly without advancing to the Super Sixes stage.
The legendary Sachin Tendulkar was awarded the Player of the Tournament for his outstanding performance, amassing a then-record 673 runs in a single edition.
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