Sports

Rival teams arrive as ticket sales peak for last One-Day International (ODI)

Sentinel Digital Desk

Thiruvananthapuram: Even as the Indian and West Indies players arrived in the city to a rousing welcome from fans and supporters on Tuesday afternoon for the fifth and final One-Day International (ODI), the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) is in an upbeat mood as ticket sales have by now crossed Rs three crore.

KCA officials are confident that the last ticket will be sold before the first ball is bowled on Thursday afternoon. In the over 45,000 capacity stadium, the KCA has decided to provide tickets for students at 50 percent discount.

"Close to 30,000 tickets have been sold and in the remaining two days, we are confident that the last ticket also would be sold. Students need to bring their identity card and can get Rs 1000 worth ticket for Rs 500," a KCA official told IANS.

The teams are put up at the Leela Raviz Hotel, Kovalam, built by world renowned architect Charles Correa, providing a breathtaking view of the Arabian sea.

Senior manager R. Sreejith at Raviz said that even though there is a set cuisine as prescribed by the BCCI, the teams will be given a real good taste of Kerala cuisine in all its richness.

"We have got a huge collection of a variety of seafood which includes prawns, crabs, and fish, especially, pearl spot- a traditional delicacy of our state, that has been sourced from a few places," said Sreejith and added that there is a special one for Indian captain Virat Kohli, that has been done up by them.

The scoreline now reads 2-1 in favor of India with one match tied and hence the visitors would go all out and so would India, who will like to win the series outright. IANS