Black Caps' pulsating form sparks ticket sales surge

Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum in action against Australia on Saturday. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The Black Caps' pulsating form in the Cricket World Cup is sparking a surge of ticket sales, though some seats are still available for New Zealand's next outing.

The match against Bangladesh in Hamilton on March 13 is sold out, but tickets were still available yesterday for the game against Afghanistan in Napier next Sunday.

Cricket World Cup spokesman Philip Clark said ticket sales soared after New Zealand hammered England in the Wellington pool match - for all remaining games involving, or expected to involve, the Black Caps.

"There was a surge in sales for the quarter-final, which is obviously New Zealand's quarter-final, and the Eden Park semifinal, which could feature the Black Caps."

He said there had been a spike in sales overnight and yesterday for the Afghanistan match and tickets for that and the quarter- and semifinals were selling fast.

Police said only one of the 40,000 spectators was arrested at Saturday's match against Australia at Eden Park.

"Overall the event ran smoothly and while there was some congestion experienced with moving the crowd in and out of the stadium before and after the game, from a police perspective it can be considered a success," said Inspector Peter Gibson. Twenty-one people were evicted from the stadium for various reasons, including "intoxication and inappropriate behaviour".

Twitter user Jamie Wall wrote: "Just remembered the guy in front of us at #EdenPark yesterday who got p*ssed, passed out and then his mates covered him in garbage."

There were some complaints about bottled water being sold out or unavailable in parts of the stadium. Mr Clark said there were some issues with restocking but there were many free water stations, so thirsty fans never had to go without a drink.