Wednesday, 12th September 2007 at 2:09 pm

Wanderers: spiritual home of Twenty20?

It might not have the history of Lord’s, the size of the MCG, or the sheer majesty of Eden Gardens in full cry, but the Wanderers has every right to lay claim to being Twenty20 cricket’s spiritual home. The Bullring’s definitive match remains the 438 one-day international between South Africa and Australia, but the World Cup opener reinforced what we’ve come to know from Standard Bank Pro20 cricket: the Wanderers loves the 20-over version of the game.

It’s a combination of two major factors that sets Johannesburg’s temple to the game apart: a fantastic crowd, as seen in the picture, which provides an electric atmosphere at big games (and makes tickets for games so hard to come by), and a pitch made in Twenty20 heaven. Hard, flat and true, it’s not much fun to bowl on, but for the batsmen it’s divine…

…and Chris Gayle will be the latest to attest to that. The West Indian’s brutal assault sparked a carnival evening as the World Cup got underway, and the combination of atmosphere and free-scoring excess made Tuesday night a perfect start to the tournament. Limited overs cricket of any sort at the Wanderers has a habit of producing something special; expect a few more remarkable nights at the 20-over game’s ideal ground.