Decent turn-out for Australia-Zimbabwe game

Ahmedabad, Feb 21 (PTI) Despite being a first working dayof the week today and also school and college examinationsapproaching, there was a decent turn-out for a non-India WorldCup match here at Motera''s Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium.

The Group A clash between defending champions Australiaand Zimbabwe attracted 10,000 spectators at this venue whichhas, in the recent past, seen very poor crowd turn-out foreven a Test match featuring India.

"We have kept the ticket prices around Rs 100 and 150 atthe lower end and around Rs 2,500 and Rs 3,000 at the higherend (main pavilion)," said a representative of hostingassociation -- Gujarat Cricket Association.

The entire proceeds from ticket sales go into the coffersof the hosting centre in the tournament, which is the propertyof the International Cricket Council.

The day-night match commenced in front of a sparsegathering before people started to fill the ground towards thelater part of the Australian innings.

For a match not featuring home team India, the number ofspectators watching the match came as a surprise, especiallyat a venue, which attracted less than 5000 people daily whenIndia played a Test match against South Africa a couple ofyears back.