Festival with a difference as Pakistani community rallies for Napier cricket

There was something ironic about planning for a photograph relating to an international cricket match at McLean Park in Napier. It started raining.

Rain or not – and some showers are forecast four days out – Hawke’s Bay’s Pakistani community will be turning out in numbers when their team plays the New Zealand Black Caps in a men’s 50-overs-a-side one-day international (ODI) at the park on Saturday.

The first of three matches in an ODI series, following a five-match Twenty20 series won by the Black Caps, is one the Pakistan community batted for in the hope of their side venturing back to the Bay.

The park has a history of raining on international cricket games, dating back to Pakistan’s first match here, February 16-21, 1979, when the park became the 50th venue globally for test-match cricket.

Syed Khurram Iqbal getting in early for the cricket at McLean Park, where Pakistan plays the Black Caps on Saturday amid the end of Ramadan. Photo / Doug Laing

Community leader Syed Khurram Iqbal, who works for the Napier City Council, and who wore a New Zealand shirt as the rain eased and the photo opportunity arrived, says the community urged New Zealand Cricket to bring the game to Napier, and he expects the current community in the region, estimated at about 250 people, will front up for the 11am start.

He expects they will be joined by compatriots from across the lower North Island on what is a special day, coinciding with the end of Ramadan, an Islamic holy month of fasting likely to end, if the moon appears, as the sun goes down about 7.10pm, which – if both teams play out their 50 overs – will be while the match is still in progress.

“The following day is expected to be Eid al-Fitr, a major festival celebrated by Muslims worldwide,” Iqbal said. “This timing offers a unique opportunity for the Pakistani cricket team to celebrate Eid with our community in Napier, fostering cultural exchange and unity.”

Meanwhile, Napier City Council events manager Kevin Murphy is hopeful crowd numbers will exceed 6000, though in 2025 it’s hard to predict.

The Super Rugby Pacific match between the Hurricanes and Drua attracted over 11,000 to the park on February 22, but many were comparative latecomers, with over 5000 tickets sold in the last week before the game.

For the record, Pakistan and New Zealand have played two five-day test matches at McLean Park, both drawn, and there have been six ODIs, of which Pakistan has won just one, in 2011.

Pakistan’s last ODI matches on the park were in 2015, with a loss to New Zealand but a World Cup match win over UAE.

The Black Caps’ last ODI on the park was in a humiliating 2023 9-wicket loss to Bangladesh, the sixth different nation to beat the New Zealand men’s team in Napier in 11 ODI matches dating back to Pakistan’s win over the Black Caps in 2011.

A Twenty20 match between the two countries in December 2020 was notable for stoppages because of sunstrike.

Iqbal says fans on Saturday can expect short breaks in the game, not for the weather but as the fasting ends, with announcements at the ground to explain to the crowd.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 52 years of journalism experience, 42 of them in Hawke’s Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.