Durban rolls back the years, packs Kingsmead: 'Best atmosphere I've ever experienced'

Durban, so often criticised as a city that no longer turns out for major sporting events, rolled back the years on Wednesday evening and packed Kingsmead for game two of SA20. 

There were over 12 500 fans watching Durban's Super Giants fall to the Joburg Super Kings, and the stadium was rocking from start to finish. 

The weather, too, played ball, and the sun was out for the duration of the contest.

The first two matches of this competition have now been extremely well supported with Tuesday's opener between MI Cape Town and Paarl Royals at Newlands also a success. 

With domestic cricket in this country having struggled to draw fans to stadiums for over a decade now, the developments of the last two days will have been incredibly encouraging to all stakeholders involved in SA20, including Cricket South Africa.

The players, too, are responding, with Proteas spinner and KwaZulu-Natal stalwart Keshav Maharaj saying after Wednesday's clash that he had never experienced such a buzz at Kingsmead. 

"I've played here for the last 17 years, and that's probably the best atmosphere I've ever experienced," said Maharaj.

"It was incredible to see this atmosphere, especially on a week day, and the support from the locals was exceptional.

"A lot of credit must go to the teams and how they've marketed themselves, and to the league for creating the pizzazz and glitz and glamour. I think it can only get better from here."

The tournament will now move to Gqeberha, where the Sunrisers Eastern Cape will tale on the Pretoria Capitals on Wednesday (17:30).