Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium

Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (Bengali: জহুর আহমেদ চৌধুরী স্টেডিয়াম), previously known as Bir Shrestha Shahid Ruhul Amin Stadium, and abbreviately as ZAC Stadium, is a cricket stadium located in the port city of Chittagong, in south-eastern Bangladesh.^[2] It became a Test cricket venue on 27 February 2006 when it hosted a Test match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. It hosted two group matches of the 2011 Cricket World Cup.^[3] It has seating capacity of around 20,000.

Currently, it is the main cricket venue of the port city. Previously, the MA Aziz Stadium was the main cricket venue of Chittagong; however, it focuses on football now. It is also home to the Chittagong Kings, the local franchise in the Bangladesh Premier League.

History

Situated about half-an-hour's drive outside the city center, the Chittagong Divisional Stadium was one of the five purpose-built cricket grounds established in the run-up to the 2004 Under-19 World Cup.^[4] It was finally granted full international status in January 2006, ahead of Sri Lanka's tour to the country. The stadium itself is a concrete bowl set in acres of prime agricultural land, with a three-tier pavilion providing the focal point. The stadium provides views of beautiful lush trees, the port, and ships on the coast. It had floodlights installed prior to the world cup, only the fourth cricket ground in Bangladesh, giving it the ability to host day/night cricket matches.^[5]

Notable Players From Chittagong

• Tamim Iqbal
• Mominul Haque
• Aftab Ahmed
• Nafees Iqbal
• Akram Khan
• Nazimuddin
• Minhajul Abedin

Stats and Records

Till 31 July 2015 the venue will host

• Test Matches -14
• One Day International -16
• T20I -17

• In 2013 Mominul Haque made his highest individual score against New Zealand in this venue, he scored 181,which is 4th highest by any Bangladeshi batsmen in Test Cricket
• In the same test Sohag Gazi becoame the world's only cricketer to take a Hat-trick and hit a century in same test. He scored 101* and a Six wicket-haul with a Hat-trick.
• In ICC World Cup 2011 Bangladesh first time defeated England in World Cup History.
• Winning the 3rd ODI on 15 July 2015, Bangladesh first time won a series against South Africa. In this match South Africa scored their lowest total (168/9) in ODI without being ALL OUT. This is also 2nd lowest total for South Africa against Bangladesh. This series win was 4th seccessive series win for Bangladesh since Nov-2014.

2011 World Cup

It was the second venue in Bangladesh of the 2011 Cricket World Cup, the other being Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium in Dhaka.^[6] It hosted two matches, the historic match between Bangladesh and England, where the home team nail-bitingly beat England,^[7] and the other being between the home side and Netherlands.^[8]

11 March 2011 14:30 (D/N) Scorecard

England  225 (49.4 overs)	v	Bangladesh 227/8 (49 overs)
Jonathan Trott 67 (99) Naeem Islam 2/29 (8 overs)		Imrul Kayes 60 (100) Ajmal Shahzad 3/43 (10 overs)

Bangladesh won by 2 wickets Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong Umpires: Daryl Harper (Aus) and Rod Tucker (Aus) Player of the match: Imrul Kayes (Ban)

• Bangladesh won the toss and elected to field.

14 March 2011 09:30 Scorecard

Netherlands  160 (46.2 overs)	v	Bangladesh 166/4 (41.2 overs)
Ryan ten Doeschate 53* (71) Abdur Razzak 3/29 (10 overs)		Imrul Kayes 73* (113) Tom Cooper 2/33 (7.2 overs)

Bangladesh won by 6 wickets Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pak) and Rod Tucker (Aus) Player of the match: Imrul Kayes (Ban)

• Netherlands won the toss and elected to bat.

See also

• List of Test cricket grounds
• List of international cricket grounds in Bangladesh
• List of international cricket centuries at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium
• Stadiums in Bangladesh

References

Coordinates: 22°21′20.89″N 91°46′4.51″E / 22.3558028°N 91.7679194°E / 22.3558028; 91.7679194