Mangaung Oval


Mangaung Oval, previously known as Springbok Park, Chevrolet Park, Goodyear Park, and OUTsurance Oval, is a cricket oval in Bloemfontein, South Africa. It is currently used mostly for cricket matches. It is the home of the Knights cricket team. The stadium holds 20,000 people and opened in 1989.

History

The ground hosted its first one-day international in December 1992 when South Africa cruised to an eight-wicket victory over India. In October 2000 it was accorded full Test status with the visit of Zimbabwe.
One of the greatest innings ever played occurred early in 1994 when the former South African captain Hansie Cronje smashed 251 with 28 fours and six sixes against the touring Australians.
The ground played its part in South African Test history when, fittingly, Allan Donald who as Free State cricketer played for many years here became the first South African to capture 300 test wickets during the first Test against New Zealand in November 2000.
2003 saw Feiko Kloppenburg and the unbeaten Klaas-Jan van Noortwijk of The Netherlands scoring a century in the same match as Netherlands posted their only win in 2003 Cricket World Cup against Namibia.
On 7 March 2007, Irish vocal pop band Westlife held a concert for The Love Tour supporting their album The Love Album.
This was the same stadium were Colin Ingram scored his maiden ODI century in his first international match. He subsequently became the first South African to score a century on debut.
Springbok Park boasts some of the best lights in the country and is regularly used for day/night matches, when the grassy banks become colourfully filled with spectators and a carnival atmosphere prevails. It is just 10 minutes walk from the city centre, with Bloemfontein coach station adjacent to the ground.
A naming rights arrangement saw the ground renamed Goodyear Park due to sponsorship by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company until the 2007/08 season when it was renamed the OUTsurance Oval. Now, it was renamed again as Mangaung Oval.