Highest-altitude cricket match

"Mt. Kili Madness" was played at 5,752 m (18,871 ft) above sea level, in a dormant volcano crater on Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, on 26 September 2014. The curtailed Twenty20 charity match saw the Gorillas, led by England vice-captain Heather Knight, defeat the Rhinos, skippered by former England cricketer Ashley Giles, by 19 runs, under official ICC (International Cricket Council) rules and conditions.

"Mt. Kili Madness" broke the existing record for the highest-altitude game of cricket by 588 m (1,929 ft). On 21 April 2009, "The Everest Test 2009" was played at 5,164 m (16,942 ft) above sea level at the Gorak Shep plateau, Nepal. That match inspired "Mt. Kili Madness".

Under ICC (International Cricket Council) rules, each side must bat for at least five overs to constitute a completed Twenty20 match. "Mt. Kili Madness" was scheduled to be a full 20-over-per-side match, but due to inclement weather in the crater ("clouds stopped play") the match was reduced to 10 overs per side.

The match took place after a seven-day trek up the mountain, with the 25 players (including three sub fielders), qualified umpires, match adjudicator, porters, medics, press, independent witnesses and spectators battling altitude sickness and temperatures as low as -20C on the ascent.

The match, which lasted for a total of 88 minutes (Gorillas batted for 42 minutes from 9 a.m. to 9.42 a.m.; Rhinos batted for 38 minutes from 9.50 a.m. to 10.28 a.m.), took place under official ICC rules and conditions, which included everything from cricket whites (with a few extra layers!) to an official scorer. The game was played on a plastic pitch rolled out over the ice, and a bright orange ball was used.

The thinness of oxygen at 5,752 m meant that the ball travelled faster through the air, and this is likely to have had a bearing on the number of sixes (10) hit during the match - three of them from man-of-the-match Phil Walker. In contrast, only five fours were struck on the uneven terrain in the 20 overs of play that were possible.

"Mt. Kili Madness" benefited three charities: Cancer Research UK, the Rwanda Cricket Stadium Foundation and Tusk, an African-based wildlife conservation charity. As of 31 October 2014, the dedicated website set up for the event (http://www.mtkilimadness.com/) confirmed that £80,972 had been raised to date.

The summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa, stands at 5,895 m (19,341 ft) above sea level. The flat crater in which the game took place was therefore 143 m (470 ft) below the peak of the mountain.

Match summary:

Gorillas: 83-5 (10 overs) - Knight 21; Walker 20; 4 run-outs
Rhinos: 64-9 (10 overs) - B. Norrington 10; J. Worsley 1-0-6-3; Walker 1-0-9-3
Result: Gorillas won by 19 runs

Man of the match: Phil Walker

Teams:

Gorillas: Raymond Lebokana (Alexandra Township Chiefs), Phil Walker (editor, All Out Cricket magazine), Heather Knight (captain; England vice-captain), Liam Breedveld (wicket-keeper), Hugo Worsley, Rob Barry, Christopher Fenton, Jonathan Worsley, Clare Connor OBE (former England cricketer), Jane Van Marken, Shripal Shah. 12th man: Melinda Kocsis.

Rhinos: Ashley Giles MBE (captain; former England cricketer), Robert Moloisane (wicket-keeper; Alexandra Township Chiefs), David Harper, George Jerram, Simon Rogers, Makhaya Ntini (former South African cricketer), Matthew Weihs, Ben Norrington, Steven Smith, Phil Fordham, Tess Norrington. 12th man: Edward Haines. 13th man: Rebecca James.

Umpires: Aliya Bauer and Jennifer Pettinger
Scorer: Aliya Bauer