Christchurch's 2015 World Cup stadium inaugurated

Hagley Oval

Christchurch, Sep 18 (IANS) Hagley Oval Pavilion, which will host the ICC World Cup opener, was inaugurated at a ceremony here attended by over 150 guests, including New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel.

The ground will host the opening ceremony of the cricketing extravaganza which will be followed by the opening New Zealand vs Sri Lanka tie on February 14. Two other pool matches -- Pakistan vs West Indies and England vs Scotland -- will be held at the ground.

"We have a fantastic summer of cricket ahead of us with the first Boxing Day Test in more than a decade and also the World Cup. Christchurch has really delivered an international quality venue in Canterbury," Canterbury cricket chief executive Lee Germon said on the inaugural earlier this week.