Christchurch, Feb 13 (Stuff): New Zealand got a big tick of approval from media around the globe for its Cricket World Cup opening ceremony.

"Thunder Down Under" was one headline in India as they applauded the "booming" fireworks display to complete a memorable evening at Christchurch's Hagley Park. Another media outlet in cricket-crazy India described the night as "mesmerising".

"Australia and New Zealand are ready to welcome back the ICC Cricket World Cup after a gap of 23 years. Much has changed over the years, but the exuberance of people Down Under for the sport has not," reported Shubhodeep Chakravarty for NDTV.com.

Britain's Daily Mail described New Zealand's effort as "quirky" and liked the variety of Maori warriors sharing the stage with Morris dancers.

The significance of Christchurch's ability to rebound from its tragic earthquake and feature so prominently in a global sport event was also noted.

"Thursday's ceremony, which set the stage for the 20th Cricket World Cup, celebrating the love of cricket and the cultures of the competing nations, equally celebrated Christchurch's resilience as it literally lifted itself from ruins to host the opening and opening match of cricket's four-yearly festival," reported the Daily Mail.

Another report noted Christchurch's disappointment at missing out on involvement in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, but suggested the city had "more than made up for that" with their cricket effort.

Specialist cricket website CricInfo applauded the "community-focused" event and the "carnival atmposphere".

The ceremony struck a note with Pakistan's Express Tribune which described the evening as "awe-inspiring".

And there was approval for the appearance of local hero and All Blacks captain Richie McCaw.

READ MORE: McCaw and Fleming in high-five fail

Many news agencies in the world's cricketing strongholds carried live blogs of the ceremony and reports today featured impressive videos and photo galleries.

Tim Cleary was a harsh critic on The Guardian's live blog in Britain, though he gave New Zealand a win over Australia for the dual ceremonies carried out on either side of The Tasman.

"It was rubbish. The Aussie bit anyway," he declared as he wrapped up a long stint at his keyboard.

"The Kiwi part was okay. It moved pretty quickly. The Aussie bit couldn't have been more cliched and flat-out stone boring had they put Daryl Braithwaite on stage singing Howzat. Which of course they did."

He did provide a fair bit of humour for his readers though. New Zealand band Shapeshifter were lost on him "but then you can't keep dragging out Dave Dobbin. At some stage you have to move on from Slice of Heaven".

And he added a touch of political satire to his report, too: "And here's John Key, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, and the people actually applaud him. Hasn't happened in Australia for a good few years. If Tony Abbott walked out now they'd throw animals at him, marsupials, big ones."