IPL in South Africa- Schedule Unveiled

While Cape Town is going to host the inaugural ceremony, the Wanderers at Johannesburg will stage the grand finale of IPL Season 2. The Proteas are going to see some high- voltage, high- profile cricket encounters during the league over the span of five weeks! Here is the full schedule of the upcoming cricket tournament.

Countdown has begun - twenty one days to go before overseas IPL takes off in South Africa. It doesn’t matter that the upcoming twenty-20 tournament is taking place away from home - armed with the right set of information, you can still stay tuned to the developments through the various stages of the league. We bring to you the full schedule of the upcoming cricket extravaganza. So start stuffing your cupboard with packets of popcorns, start staying back late in the office to cut good impression on your boss so that he/she grumbles less when you slip out of the office early during the IPL days or better even start surfing the internet for hunting out the most convincing excuses for taking sudden leaves!

Indian Premier League in its inaugural season was runaway hit; in the second season it is going be relegated into one of Indian television’s reality shows. Even then cricket lovers in the subcontinent are all set to cheer for their favorite teams at real time. Mr. Modi and his associates in South Africa took just a couple of days to come out with the final schedule of IPL 2009. This year’s shortened tournament commences from April 18 and the opening match will be played at Newlands in Cape Town. This quiet South African suburb is going to experience some unprecedented excitement of live cricket on that day when last year’s champions, Rajasthan Royals take on to the Bangalore Royal Challengers and the runners-up Chennai Super Kings strike against the Mumbai Indians in two back to back matches at the same venue.

The real nerve-wrecker however has been slotted for May 24; the final match will be played on that day at Wanderers in Johannesburg. The eight cities that have been short listed for the 59 matches include: Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Pretoria, East London, Kimberly, Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth. 16 matches are to be held in Kingsmead in Durban, while 12 ties will be staged at Centurion Park in Pretoria. Seven matches will be hosted by St George's Park in Port Elizabeth, and four matches by Buffalo Park in East London. Apart from the finals, the Wanderers will host seven other matches, while Newlands will stage eight matches in total. OUTsurance Oval in Bloemfontein and De Beers Oval in Kimberley have been handed over least number of matches; they will host two matches each.

Now coming to the most important aspect of the schedule – “The Match Timing: All matches will be held at 12.30pm and 4.30pm local time. That means Indian audience will be able to catch them up live on television at 4.00pm and 8.00pm respectively. So IPL chief kept his promise by bringing the mega event to the Indian television audience at the prime time.

THE TEAMS AND THE FIXTURES ARE AS FOLLOWS:

Rajasthan Royals (RR), Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), Delhi Daredevils (DD), Mumbai Indians (MI), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Deccan Chargers (DC).

ALL MATCHES ARE HELD AT IST(INDIAN STANDARD TIME)

IPL Season 2 Schedule (IPL 2009 in South Africa)
Date	City	Matches
April 18	Cape Town	1. RR vs. RCB (4 pm) 2. MI vs. CSK (8 pm)
April 19	Cape Town	1. KKR vs. DC (4 pm) 2. DD vs. KXIP (8 pm)
April 20	Port Elizabeth	1. RCB vs. CSK (4 pm)
April 21	Durban	1. RR vs. MI (4 pm) 2. KKR vs. KXIP (8 pm)
April 22	Durban Cape Town	1. DD vs. CSK (4 pm) 2. RCB vs. DC (8 pm)
April 23	Port Elizabeth	1. KKR vs. RR (4 pm)
April 24	Johannesburg	KXIP vs. RCB (4 pm)
April 25	Cape Town Durban	1. KKR vs. CSK (4 pm) 2. DC vs. MI (8 pm)
April 26	Cape Town Port Elizabeth	1. RR vs. KXIP (4 pm) 2. RCB vs. DD (8 pm)
April 27	Cape Town Durban	1. KKR vs. MI (4 pm) 2. CSK vs. DC (8 pm)
April 28	Pretoria	1. DD vs. RR (4 pm)
April 29	Durban	1. MI vs. KXIP (4 pm) 2. KKR vs. RCB (8 pm)
April 30	Pretoria	1. DD vs. DC (4 pm) 2. RR vs. CSK (8 pm)
May 1	East London Durban	1. RCB vs. KXIP (4 pm) 2. MI vs. KKR (8 pm)
May 2	Johannesburg Port Elizabeth	1. RR vs. DC (4 pm) 2. CSK vs. DD (8 pm)
May 3	Durban East London	1. MI vs. RCB (4 pm) 2. KXIP vs. KKR (8 pm)
May 4	Port Elizabeth	1. DC vs. CSK (4 pm)
May 5	Durban	1. DD vs. KKR (4 pm) 2. KXIP vs. RR (8 pm)
May 6	Pretoria	1. MI vs. DC (4 pm)
May 7	Pretoria	1. KXIP vs. CSK (4 pm) 2. RCB vs. RR (8 pm)
May 8	East London	1. DD vs. MI (4 pm)
May 9	Bloemfontein Port Elizabeth	1. DC vs. KXIP (4 pm) 2. CSK vs. RR (8 pm)
May 10	East London Johannesburg	1. KKR vs. DD (4 pm) 2. RCB vs. MI (8 pm)
May 11	Bloemfontein	1. DC vs. RR (4 pm)
May 12	Pretoria	1. RCB vs. KKR (4 pm) 2. KXIP vs. MI (8 pm)
May 13	Durban	1. DC vs. DD (4 pm)
May 14	Durban	1. MI vs. RR (4 pm) 2. CSK vs. RCB (8 pm)
May 15	Kimberley	1. KXIP vs. DD (4 pm)
May 16	Port Elizabeth Johannesburg	1. CSK vs. MI (4 pm) 2. DC vs. KKR (8 pm)
May 17	Kimberley Johannesburg	1. RR vs. DD (4 pm) 2. KXIP vs. DC (8 pm)
May 18	Pretoria	1. CSK vs. KKR (4 pm)
May 19	Johannesburg	1. DD vs. RCB (4 pm)
May 20	Durban	1. CSK vs. KXIP (4 pm) 2. RR vs. KKR (8 pm)
May 21	Pretoria	1. DC vs. RCB (4 pm) 2. MI vs. DD (8 pm)
May 22	Pretoria	Semi Final 1
May 23	Johannesburg	Semi Final 2
May 24	Johannesburg	Final

Crowe blasts Sehwag's captaincy

Former Kiwi captain Martin Crowe said Virender Sehwag's leadership is one of the prime reasons for India's desperate situation.

Criticising stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag for his poor leadership, Crowe said India's performance in the on-going second Test in Napier is a far cry from their attempt at becoming the world's number one team.

"Indian team effort was pretty sloppy"

Crowe claimed regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni -- he is out with a back injury -- was being sorely missed in the second Test, which the visitors are trailing by 267 runs after following on.

"The Indian team effort was pretty sloppy. There was a resigned feel about what the Indian side were obviously thinking in terms of looking to draw this match and to retain that 1-0 advantage," said Crowe.

"But these are troubled signs for India. They have almost taken their eye off the ball. The Virender Sehwag shot was very irresponsible. Gautam Gambhir was lucky to survive a run-out, and the stroke that he played to get out.

"All this does not become of an experienced side that wants to be No. 1 in the world. Their fielding again was just slack. Nothing much changed and MS Dhoni was badly missed," Crowe wrote in his column for a cricket website.

"I have never seen captaincy so bad"

He blasted Sehwag for his tactics and termed the Delhi dasher's decisions as "unfocused thinking".

"Sending out a nightwatchman was always unnecessary and shows further muddled and unfocused thinking," Crowe said. "I have never seen captaincy so bad as I saw with Virender Sehwag," he added.

The 46-year-old right-hander said Dhoni altogether has a different approach towards the game and pointed out that even senior players like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid stood as silent spectators yesterday when the New Zealand batsmen were on a run rout.

"Clearly the loss of Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been a massive turnaround for them because their attitude has disappeared completely. For a side that wants to be the No. 1 team in the world, I was quite surprised at their whole approach, particularly after lunch on the opening day," he said.

"Obviously Dhoni has got the Midas touch, he has got that ability to motivate the team. But what surprises me is the fact even with Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar on the park they are not able to rally the troops," Crowe said.

He also criticised India's decision to arrive late in Napier for the second Test and said it left the visitors with very little time to settle down with the conditions.

"India should look back at the decision to arrive late in Napier. It's hard to tell if that is what is showing up on the field as well. But this late arrival has gone against the norm," said Crowe.

"I dont know if its arrogance or not, it's probably ill-planned. No one can predict that Dhoni was going to be injured, but they just seemed to as a group just gone off the boil which has allowed New Zealand to lift their confidence and belief that maybe they can pull off an upset and take the remaining wickets necessary to win the Test," he said.

"We need a good spell tomorrow"

New Zealand coach Andy Moles said Kiwis will need only a couple of good catches and a special spell to win the Test.

Moles conceded India have batted themselves back into the match by losing just one wicket in 90 overs today but felt New Zealand can still win the match.

"There is only team that can win this game and that is New Zealand. It is not often that we have been in that position. We hope a little bit of luck goes our way tomorrow and we get the opportunity to push to the win that we deserve," said Moles.

"Obviously, a draw would be the favourite. But it only takes a couple of good catches and a special spell by somebody," he added.

"Few quick wickets is all what we need"

Moles reckoned the task would not be easy but felt getting a few quick wickets was all his wards needed.

"This is an exceptionally good batting wicket and they have got some great players who played well on it. If we can get our intensity right and hit the right areas we could turn it our way. All we are looking for is two or three mistakes and we will be into the Indian tail.

"As we saw in the first innings, they have got a magnificent 5-6 at the front. If we bowl well and things go our way we can get quick wickets," he said.

"It was a difficult day for bowlers"

The Kiwi coach admitted it was a difficult day for his bowlers. "It has been a tough day. Obviously, it has been a great day to bat with good weather and an excellent wicket. We stuck to our task very well during the day. But they played well and showed good discipline. We have also shown exceptional discipline with our bowling attack," he said.

Moles, however, claimed that though his bowlers were sore after bowling 200.5 overs on two successive days, their spirits were good.

"They are sore. But there are no injuries. Obviously, you get a bit tired when you make teams follow-on. My message to the team is that we got to get used to it. If we are going to become a good Test side it is about getting big scores and then making teams follow-on.

"They are in good spirits, though they would have liked to have got one or two successes during the day. But the batters won over the ball today," he said.

Moles satisfied with bowlers

Their lack of success notwithstanding, Moles said he could not have asked for more from them.

"They have come in and hit the wicket hard in the areas. They bowled in good areas for long periods of time. It shows in India making only 207 in 90 overs today. They are still behind us," said Moles.

He also supported New Zealands decision to enforce the follow-on and said, "If we would have batted, we would have been in this position that India are in now. The only we had to go in this game was to enforce the follow-on."

Button claims Melbourne title

New kids on the block Brawn GP Team take top honours with a win on their debut race through Jenson Button.

In an amazing start to the Formula 1 season down under in Melbourne Australia, Brawn GP sweeped the top two places with Rubens Barrichello coming in second after Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel crashed into each other four laps from the chequered flag.

Racing giants McLaren and Ferrari had a disastrous outing with Felipe Massa (Ferrari) and Hekki Kovalainen (McLaren) both departing the race early.

Top eight cars in the points

1. Jenson Button (Brawn GP)
2. Rubens Barrichello (Brawn GP)
3. Jarno Trulli (Toyota)
4. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
5. Timo Glock (Toyota)
6. Fernando Alonso (Renault)
7. Nico Rosberg (Williams)
8. Sebastian Beumi (Toro Rosso)

SAD THAT FERRARIS DID NOT MAKE IT EVEN TO TOP 10

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