KARACHI, Dec 15: The first international fixture in Karachi after more than 13 months was always going to ensure a full attendance at the National Stadium on Thursday and the One-dayer between Pakistan and England ended without any trouble.

And being a one-day match, nobody was really surprised to see that all the enclosures were jam-packed with people who had come to enjoy a good day’s cricket.

The stadium, which can officially accommodate around 34,000 spectators on Thursday, appeared to have swallowed in more than 40,000 within four hours of the start at 11.00am.

Virtually starved of international cricket in the country’s biggest metropolis in the aftermath of 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, the Karachiites had become used to endure all kinds of hardships in their endeavour to reach the stadium.

Thursday was no exception as a great number had to walk a long way from different routes — such as Civic Centre (Hasan Square), Karsaz, Dalmiya Road, Stadium Road — according to eyewitnesses.

Those who had planned to come along in cars were asked to park their vehicles in areas which were far away from the stadium. The Sir Shah Suleman Road from the Civic Centre side was completely blocked and no vehicle was allowed to go through.

The same situation was witnessed at other spots. The Stadium Road which has two of the city’s largest private hospitals was fortunately open to all traffic from the Central Jail side.

Because of overcrowding, a lot of people experienced problems inside the stadium, especially when they returned from lunch. A number of them complained that their seats were being occupied by those who had been let in unauthorized.

Among the crowd, was a group of English fans who had come for this match from Dubai where they have been working for the past 15 years.

“Who says there are security worries in Karachi,” John Everton asked. “Last night, I took a walk and found the place incredibly fascinating.”

“We are really enjoying our stay in this beautiful city. The people here are really nice and helpful,” Peter Lombard pointed out. “Karachi is really a fine place and should host more international cricket.”