Seddon Park a feast of orange, white and green

Indian fans revel in the festive feel of the day at Hamilton's built-for-cricket Seddon Park. Picture / Christine Cornege

Colour, culture and cricket wound into one at the India versus Ireland Cricket World Cup match in Hamilton yesterday.

The city's boutique international cricket ground, Seddon Park, was a major attraction for the sell-out day-nighter where Indian and Irish cricket fans descended en masse.

India were left chasing 260 runs to win last night, after a respectable batting effort from the Irish underdogs. Dressed in a specially made four-leafed clover green suit, complete with matching tie, Irish visitor Shay Livingstone joked he would "talk all day" for a round of beer.

The Galway hotelier was part of an 800-strong group known as the "Blarney Army", following the Irish team around New Zealand and Australia.

With Melbourne friend Adrian Raftery - aka Larry the Leprechaun - Mr Livingstone chanted "ole, ole, ole" every time Ireland struck a four.

They had already been to Brisbane, Canberra, Sydney, Hobart, and Nelson and predicted Ireland would beat India.

A sea of orange, white and green - the colours of both the Indian and Irish flags - could be seen around the park.

Sitting on bean bags in a fenced, shaded area reserved for VIPs were four Indian supporters dressed in traditional costume made up of the colours of the Indian flag.

The men, from London, said they were travelling with 26 friends and family on a six-week tour following their beloved team. The group had been planning the trip for almost a year at a cost of 7800 ($16,000) each, plus spending money.

Around the oval, spirits were high in the 29C Hamilton heat.

Fans dressed up in coloured wigs, face paint, team uniforms and flags, and held up four and six cards to spur on the big batters. Picnic blankets, turbans, icecreams, green hair, orange "catch a six" Tui T-shirts and sunglasses were the order of the day.

There was plenty of singing and dancing, with one group, the Indian Radma Raiders, taking their unique drum beat with them as they wove around the ground.

One sign read: "We want a New Zealand v India final".

The Hamilton City Council director of operations for event venues, Chad Hooker, said Indian fans in particular loved the intimacy of the purpose-built Seddon Park.

"The fact they can be on one side of the fence and their stars are literally only metres away from them, it means they're just awestruck a lot of the time."

Across the city a variety of events had been planned in the lead-up to yesterday's fixture, as well as Hamilton's third and final match between NZ and Bangladesh on Friday.

They included a multicultural cricket festival, a family fun zone and a walking trail to the ground.