Thousands of cricket fans flock to Napier

Indian cricket fans were out in force to support their national side. Photo / Paul Taylor

Officially it was a home match but at times it seemed the Indian fans in the crowd outnumbered the Black Caps' supporters.

For the thousands of flagwaving Indian followers it was a rare chance to watch their sports stars in action.

Neel Patel and his cousins travelled from Auckland to see the match, noting that it was a "once in a four-year opportunity".

He was most excited to see Indian cricket captain, Virat Kohli.

Hawke's Bay Tourism general manager Annie Dundas said they won't know what the make-up of visitors is for some time, but having international cricket back in Hawke's Bay was brilliant.

"There are 'no vacancy' signs all over the place and that can only be good for our economy."

Dundas said January is their busiest month of the year for visitors, but with so many more events on this January to bring visitors here, they are expecting the month to "outperform last January".