Kilikiti takes centre stage at Basin Reserve

The sport of kilikiti, a Samoan game similar to cricket, is being revived in Wellington.

About 1500 people gathered to the Basin Reserve on Saturday to watch eight teams play, alongside plenty of Pasifika music and food.

Last year's, event was the first time kilikiti had been played at an international cricket venue and attracted a crowd of 4000.

Now a kilikiti club competition has been launched in the capital.

The sport traces its origins back to the arrival of missionaries in the 19th century to Samoa.

The sennit-wrapped, three-sided kilikiti bats are carved from wood and can be more than one metre long, and the balls are bouncier than those used in cricket.