Hnry Stadium

Wellington, New Zealand

Also or formerly known as WestpacTrust Stadium, Westpac Stadium, Sky Stadium
Established 1999
Capacity 33,500
Floodlights 1999
End names Scoreboard End, City End
Home team Wellington
Other sports Rugby (Wellington Hurricanes, Wellington Lions)
Current local time 01:34, Mon Oct 05, 2026 (UTC +1300)

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Records and statistics

First ODI	New Zealand v West Indies - Jan 8-9, 2000	Scorecard
Last ODI	New Zealand v England - Nov 1, 2025	Scorecard
ODI records \| Results \| High totals \| High scores \| Most runs \| Best bowling \| Most wickets \| Partnerships \| Statsguru
First T20I	New Zealand v Sri Lanka - Dec 22, 2006	Scorecard
Last T20I	New Zealand v South Africa - Mar 22, 2026	Scorecard
T20I records \| Results \| High totals \| High scores \| Most runs \| Best bowling \| Most wickets \| Partnerships \| Statsguru
Records index

Profile

An international multi-purpose stadium that grew out of the need to replace the capital city's dilapidated international rugby stadium Athletic Park. The 100-year-old rugby ground hosted its first rugby test in 1903 and at times it seemed the facilities had been in place for a century.

Uncomfortably situated on top of a hill it became a natural wind tunnel winning the title of the windiest rugby ground in the world.

When it became obvious that the facility needed to be replaced, rugby and cricket interests met with the major local authorities in the region, the Wellington City Council and the Wellington Regional Council, the latter being a representative body of several city councils in the lower North Island.

This proved a useful liaison because as a regional facility, the WestpacTrust Stadium needed to be funded by local interests, and for major sports events that included sportsfans from the outlying areas of the region, including the Wairarapa, to the north-east, and the Horowhenua, to the north-west.

The new stadium's situation, on disused railways land 1000m north of the central business district of Wellington, was crucial to its success.

The railway link meant that sports fans from the outlying areas could train to cricket and rugby games, leaving their cars behind at their home railway stations. Traffic problems have always been associated with Athletic Park, and to a lesser extent One-Day Internationals at the Basin Reserve.

Considerable lobbying went into the placing of the stadium on the railways site, as a group from the city of Porirua 18km up State Highway One put together a powerful proposal. However, an independent arbitrator, former All Black and the chairman of the Government sports agency, the Hillary Commission, Sir Wilson Whineray, was asked to consider the respective plans and he opted for the Wellington plan.

Partly funded by local government and business interests, the stadium was completed on schedule by the end of 1999 and hosted its first cricket match, when Wellington played Northern Districts in a Shell Cup match on January 4. The game had been delayed a day due to rain.

The first international played on the ground was also affected by rain. The ODI between New Zealand and the West Indies started on January 8 and ended the next day. The fourth match in the five-match series, it was won by New Zealand by eight wickets.

Rain has been an unfortunate companion at the ground as no result was possible between the New Zealand and Australian teams later in 2000.

During the winter, the ground is the home venue of Super 12 rugby's Hurricanes and the National Provincial Championship's Wellington Lions.

[ Profile by Lynn McConnell, 20 October 2000 ]

Fixtures

2026
Tue Oct 27 (20 ovs) 20:00 local \| 07:00 GMT 03:00 EDT \| 02:00 CDT \| 00:00 PDT	3rd T20I - New Zealand v India
Sat Nov 7 (50 ovs) 15:00 local \| 02:00 GMT 21:00 EST \| 20:00 CST \| 18:00 PST	2nd ODI - New Zealand v India
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