Zimbabwe's new cricket ground at Victoria Falls is close to finished, a year before it stages matches at the 2027 Men's Cricket World Cup. Following an ICC inspection of the country's three host cities, Zimbabwe Cricket says the main construction at the Mosi-oa-Tunya International Cricket Stadium is substantially done. Work has now moved on to the finishing jobs.
The media and broadcast centres, changing rooms, medical facility, grandstands and grass banks are largely complete. Roofing, bucket seating and corporate hospitality gazebos are going in now, and floodlights are planned before the tournament. A trial match, not yet scheduled, will test the pitch and match-day operations. A full international series is planned for mid-2027, when the venue is due to be fully complete.
The ground's World Cup debut is the hosts' biggest game: Zimbabwe play India there in their last group match on 24 October 2027. Three Super 7 fixtures follow on 28 and 30 October and 1 November.
In Harare and Bulawayo the job is to bring established grounds up to a specification that has moved on a long way since Zimbabwe last co-hosted in 2003. Selected stands at Harare Sports Club and Queens Sports Club are being refitted with bucket seats, and Queens is getting floodlights. Takashinga Cricket Club in Harare is being considered for warm-up matches.
ICC tournament director Sarah Edgar called Victoria Falls "an exciting project", saying cricket would add "another dimension" to one of the world's best-known tourist destinations. South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia co-host the tournament, the first men's World Cup in Africa since 2003. The ticket ballot is open until 21 November.
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Original summary by Proventier.