Kanpur, Oct 10 (Hindu): The 70-year-old spick-and-span Green Park Stadium stands out amidst the chaos of Kanpur.

The iconic venue, the pride of every cricket lover in the city, is again in the limelight as it gets ready to host the opening match of the five-match One-Day International series between India and South Africa on Sunday.

With the final touches having been given on Friday, the sprawling ground wore a colourful look and appeared all set to resume its romance with cricket after a gap of two years. “It was in November to be precise, when India beat the West Indies here,” said a fan with a sense of pride.

Security drills being conducted with the help of sniffer dogs, height of the fences being raised for protection of the players following the Cuttack incident, tents being pitched at designated places, the pitch getting special attention before the arrival of the teams — all these only underlined that the preparations were close to perfection.

Suitable surface
Under the supervision of Central Zone curator Taposh Chatterjee, Green Park curator Shiv Kumar and his staff were working hard to provide a suitable surface for the 50-over-a-side contest.

Shiv Kumar promised a high-scoring match. “It should go beyond the average total put up here in the past. A team should be able to score well in excess of 250,” he said.

With the ball unlikely to get more than average bounce, the track should not have any demons for the big hitting batsmen of both sides.

The manually-operated scoreboard, embellished with red-coloured electric bulbs to indicate the bowler in action, the batsmen in the middle and a maiden over, has a vantage spot in the stadium.

Operated by 40 workers, the scoreboard, along with its replica, appeared to be in top condition.

Floodlights, an eyesore
Only the floodlights, due to its inadequacies, remain an eyesore. Sadly, in the age of coloured clothing and cricket under lights, Kanpur cannot host a day-night match despite having the facilities.

The heavy presence of policemen is a permanent fixture during international matches in the city and this time it will be no different.

The match will be the 14th ODI at the venue in three decades and the first one involving South Africa.

The two teams, which arrived in the city late in the evening following the washed out third and final T20I in Kolkata, are expected to get on with their practice sessions on Saturday morning ahead of an early start on Sunday.