| Ground information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Sandton, Illovo, Johannesburg |
| Capacity | 34,000[1] |
| End names | |
| Corlett Drive End Golf Course End |
|
| International information | |
| First Test | 24 December 1956: South Africa v England |
| Last Test | 14 Jan 2010: South Africa v England |
| First ODI | 13 December 1992: South Africa v India |
| Last ODI | 15 January 2011: South Africa v India |
| Domestic team information | |
| Transvaal now known as Highveld Lions (1956 – present) |
|
| As of 10 August 2010 Source: Cricinfo |
|
BIDVest Wanderers Stadium is a stadium situated just south of Sandton in Illovo, Johannesburg in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Test, One Day and First class cricket matches are played here. It is also the home ground for the Highveld Lions, formerly known as Gauteng (Transvaal).
The stadium has a seating capacity of 34,000, and was built in 1956 to replace the Old Wanderers Stadium. It was completely overhauled following South Africa's readmission to international cricket in 1991. In 1996, five new 65 metre high floodlight masts replaced the existing four 30 metre high masts enabling day-night limited-overs cricket. It is nicknamed 'The Bullring' due to its design and intimidating atmosphere.
The 2003 Cricket World Cup final was held at the Wanderers Stadium. This stadium also hosted one of the greatest One-day international matches. The match was played between South Africa and Australia in which a world record score of 434 was chased down by South Africa. In 2007 it then hosted matches of the first T20 Worldcup. It included the first match and the final which was won by India beating Pakistan.
On 1 October 2004, the Wanderers Clubhouse was virtually destroyed by fire. At that stage it was known as Liberty Life Wanderers, but as from the 2008/09 season BIDVest took up the sponsoring of the ground, thus it became its present day name of BIDVest Wanderers Stadium.
The pitch is considered very bouncy on cracks and dangerous for batting as acknowledged in 2009 ICC Champions Trophy and teams like Pakistan and Sri Lanka have always struggled there.
The stadium had also hosted the 2009 Indian Premier League 2nd semi-finals and the final in which the Deccan Chargers beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore to grab the championship title.