The opening match of the IPL 2009 will be played at Newlands in Cape Town on April 18, and the final will be held at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on May 24, according to reports in the Indian media
Cricinfo staff26-Mar-2009All eight IPL franchises will play at least half their matches in Durban, Cape Town and Centurion, where they hope to have significant crowd support from the sizeable Indian-origin population, according to the official tournament schedule that was released on Friday night.The opening double-header in Cape Town on April 18 – Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals v Bangalore Royal Challengers – will feature at least nine South African players, including Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, in a calculated attempt to spark local interest in what is essentially an Indian domestic event.JP Duminy will take the field for Mumbai against Makhaya Ntini and Albie Morkel. On the same day, Smith, Morne Morkel and Tyron Henderson will play for Rajasthan against Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and Dale Steyn for Bangalore.The opening day will also showcase two England stars who will make their IPL debuts, Kevin Pietersen, who was bought by Bangalore for US$ 1.55 million, and Andrew Flintoff, who was signed for the same amount by Chennai.According to the schedule, Cape Town hosts a chunk of the matches in the beginning of the tournament till April 26 when the action shifts to the Supersport Park and other venues. The matches in Durban, the main venue, run through the whole tournament from April 21 to May 20. The final is being held on May 24 in Johannesburg, which also hosts one of the semi-finals the day beforeKingsmead in Durban, which has a sizeable Indian-origin population, was allocated 16 matches, the highest among the eight venues, while Supersport Park in Centurion will host 12 games. The Wanderers and Newlands will stage eight matches each, while St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth and Buffalo Park in East London were given seven and three matches respectively. Two matches each were handed to the Outsurance Oval in Bloemfontein and three to the De Beers Oval in Kimberley.Kings XI Punjab play 10 of their 14 matches, the maximum among the eight franchises, at the three venues in demand, followed by Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Bangalore Royal Challengers and Chennai Super Kings (9), Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians (8), and Delhi Daredevils (7).The matches will be held at 12.30 pm and 4.30 pm local time (4.00pm and 8.00pm IST; 10.30am and 2.30pm GMT ).
Fixtures
April 2009 Sat 18
12:30 local, 10:30 GMT 1st match – Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians
Newlands, Cape Town
Sat 18
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 2nd match – Bangalore Royal Challengers v Rajasthan Royals
Newlands, Cape Town
Sun 19
12:30 local, 10:30 GMT 3rd match – Delhi Daredevils v Kings XI Punjab
Newlands, Cape Town
Sun 19
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 4th match – Deccan Chargers v Kolkata Knight Riders
Newlands, Cape Town
Mon 20
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 5th match – Bangalore Royal Challengers v Chennai Super Kings
St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth
Tue 21
12:30 local, 10:30 GMT 6th match – Kings XI Punjab v Kolkata Knight Riders
Kingsmead, Durban
Tue 21
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 7th match – Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians
Kingsmead, Durban
Wed 22
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 8th match – Bangalore Royal Challengers v Deccan Chargers
Newlands, Cape Town
Thu 23
12:30 local, 10:30 GMT 9th match – Chennai Super Kings v Delhi Daredevils
Kingsmead, Durban
Thu 23
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 10th match – Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals
Newlands, Cape Town
Fri 24
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 11th match – Bangalore Royal Challengers v Kings XI Punjab
Kingsmead, Durban
Sat 25
12:30 local, 10:30 GMT 12th match – Deccan Chargers v Mumbai Indians
Kingsmead, Durban
Sat 25
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 13th match – Chennai Super Kings v Kolkata Knight Riders
Newlands, Cape Town
Sun 26
12:30 local, 10:30 GMT 14th match – Bangalore Royal Challengers v Delhi Daredevils
St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth
Sun 26
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 15th match – Kings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals
Newlands, Cape Town
Mon 27
12:30 local, 10:30 GMT 16th match – Deccan Chargers v Chennai Super Kings
Kingsmead, Durban
Mon 27
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 17th match – Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians
St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth
Tue 28
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 18th match – Delhi Daredevils v Rajasthan Royals
SuperSport Park, Centurion
Wed 29
12:30 local, 10:30 GMT 19th match – Bangalore Royal Challengers v Kolkata Knight Riders
Kingsmead, Durban
Wed 29
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 20th match – Kings XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians
Kingsmead, Durban
Thu 30
12:30 local, 10:30 GMT 21st match – Delhi Daredevils v Deccan Chargers
SuperSport Park, Centurion
Thu 30
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 22nd match – Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals
SuperSport Park, Centurion
May 2009 Fri 1
12:30 local, 10:30 GMT 23rd match – Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians
Buffalo Park, East London
Fri 1
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 24th match – Bangalore Royal Challengers v Kings XI Punjab
Kingsmead, Durban
Sat 2
12:30 local, 10:30 GMT 25th match – Deccan Chargers v Rajasthan Royals
St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth
Sat 2
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 26th match – Chennai Super Kings v Delhi Daredevils
New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
Sun 3
12:30 local, 10:30 GMT 27th match – Kings XI Punjab v Kolkata Knight Riders
St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth
Sun 3
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 28th match – Bangalore Royal Challengers v Mumbai Indians
New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
Mon 4
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 29th match – Chennai Super Kings v Deccan Chargers
Buffalo Park, East London
Tue 5
12:30 local, 10:30 GMT 30th match – Kings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals
Kingsmead, Durban
Tue 5
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 31st match – Delhi Daredevils v Kolkata Knight Riders
Kingsmead, Durban
Wed 6
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 32nd match – Deccan Chargers v Mumbai Indians
SuperSport Park, Centurion
Thu 7
12:30 local, 10:30 GMT 33rd match – Bangalore Royal Challengers v Rajasthan Royals
SuperSport Park, Centurion
Thu 7
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 34th match – Chennai Super Kings v Kings XI Punjab
SuperSport Park, Centurion
Fri 8
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 35th match – Delhi Daredevils v Mumbai Indians
Buffalo Park, East London
Sat 9
12:30 local, 10:30 GMT 36th match – Deccan Chargers v Kings XI Punjab
De Beers Diamond Oval, Kimberley
Sat 9
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 37th match – Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals
De Beers Diamond Oval, Kimberley
Sun 10
12:30 local, 10:30 GMT 38th match – Bangalore Royal Challengers v Mumbai Indians
St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth
Sun 10
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 39th match – Delhi Daredevils v Kolkata Knight Riders
New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
Mon 11
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 40th match – Deccan Chargers v Rajasthan Royals
De Beers Diamond Oval, Kimberley
Tue 12
12:30 local, 10:30 GMT 41st match – Bangalore Royal Challengers v Kolkata Knight Riders
SuperSport Park, Centurion
Tue 12
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 42nd match – Kings XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians
SuperSport Park, Centurion
Wed 13
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 43rd match – Deccan Chargers v Delhi Daredevils
Kingsmead, Durban
Thu 14
12:30 local, 10:30 GMT 44th match – Bangalore Royal Challengers v Chennai Super Kings
Kingsmead, Durban
Thu 14
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 45th match – Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals
Kingsmead, Durban
Fri 15
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 46th match – Delhi Daredevils v Kings XI Punjab
OUTsurance Oval, Bloemfontein
Sat 16
12:30 local, 10:30 GMT 47th match – Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians
St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth
Sat 16
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 48th match – Deccan Chargers v Kolkata Knight Riders
New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
Sun 17
12:30 local, 10:30 GMT 49th match – Deccan Chargers v Kings XI Punjab
New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
Sun 17
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 50th match – Delhi Daredevils v Rajasthan Royals
OUTsurance Oval, Bloemfontein
Mon 18
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 51st match – Chennai Super Kings v Kolkata Knight Riders
SuperSport Park, Centurion
Tue 19
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 52nd match – Delhi Daredevils v Bangalore Royal Challengers
New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
Wed 20
12:30 local, 10:30 GMT 53rd match – Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals
Kingsmead, Durban
Wed 20
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 54th match – Chennai Super Kings v Kings XI Punjab
Kingsmead, Durban
Thu 21
12:30 local, 10:30 GMT 55th match – Delhi Daredevils v Mumbai Indians
SuperSport Park, Centurion
Thu 21
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 56th match – Bangalore Royal Challengers v Deccan Chargers
SuperSport Park, Centurion
Fri 22
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 1st Semi-Final – TBC v TBC
SuperSport Park, Centurion
Sat 23
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT 2nd Semi-Final – TBC v TBC
New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
Sun 24
16:30 local, 14:30 GMT Final – TBC v TBC
New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg