MUMBAI, Jan 5: India will begin its World Cup cricket campaign by locking horns with South Africa on May 15 at Hove. The May 14-June 20 cricket extravaganza featuring 12 teams, including nine Test playing countries, will kick-off a day earlier with hosts England taking on defending champions Sri Lanka at Lord's, according to a Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) release.The league phase of the quadrennial event will involve matches amongst the two groups comprising six teams each. Later, the top three teams from each group will advance to the Super Six stage which will roll out the semi-finalists.
The semi-finals are slated for June 16 and 17 at Old Trafford and Headingley respectively while the final would be played at Lord's on June 20.
Following are the groupings
Group A: India, Sri Lanka, England, South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe
Group B: Australia, Pakistan, West Indies, New Zealand, Scotland, Bangladesh
The schedule:
May 14: England vs Sri Lanka (Lord's)
May 15: India vsSouth Africa (Hove);
Zimbabwe vs Kenya (Taunton)
May 16: Australia vs Scotland (Worcester); West Indies vs Pakistan (Bristol)
May 17: New Zealand vs Bangladesh (Chelmsford)
May 18: England vs Kenya (Canterbury)
May 19: Sri Lanka vs South Africa (Northampton); India vs Zimbabwe (Leicester)
May 20: Australia vs New Zealand (Cardiff); Pakistan vs Scotland (Chester-le-Street)
May 21: West Indies vs Bangladesh (Ireland -- venue to be announced)
May 22: England vs South Africa (The Oval); Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka (Worcester)
May 23: Kenya vs India (Bristol); Australia vs Pakistan (Headingley)
May 24: West Indies vs New Zealand (Southampton); Scotland vs Bangladesh (Edinburgh)
May 25: England vs Zimbabwe (Trent Bridge)
May 26: Sri Lanka vs India (Taunton); South Africa vs Kenya (Amstelveen)
May 27: West Indies vs Scotland (Leicester); Australia vs Bangladesh (Chester-le-Street)
May 28: New Zealand vs Pakistan (Derby)
May 29: England vs India (Edgbaston); Zimbabwe vs South Africa(Chelmsford)
May 30: Sri Lanka vs Kenya (Southampton); West Indies vs Australia (Old Trafford)
May 31: Scotland vs New Zealand (Edinburgh); Pakistan vs Bangladesh (Northampton)
Super Six
June 4: Group-A II vs Group-B II (The Oval)
June 5: Group-A I vs Group-B I (Trent Bridge)
June 6: Group-A III vs Group-B III (Headingley.
June 8: Group-A II vs Group-B I (Old Trafford)
June 9: Group-A III vs Group-B II (Lord's)
June 10: Group-A I vs Group-B III (Edgbaston)
June 11: Group-A III vs Group-B I (The Oval)
June 12: Group A II vs Group B III (Trent Bridge)
June 13: Group-A I vs Group-B II (Headingley)
June 16: 1st semi-final (Team 1 vs Team 4) at Old Trafford
June l7: 2nd semi-final (Team 2 vs Team 3) at Edgbaston
June 20: Final (Lord's)
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
Printer-friendly page