|
Dubai: Hosts Pakistan will meet 2004 winners and 2006 runners-up West Indies in the opening match of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy tournament in a Group A match at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on September 11.
According to the fixtures announced by ICC yesterday, defending champions and top seed Australia will open their campaign against India on September 13 at the same venue.
Karachi and Rawalpindi are the other venues to be used for this year's event, in which only the top eight sides in the world will be competing.
As discussed at the ICC Board meeting last week here, a full independent security assessment of the situation in Pakistan will be conducted in June.
As compared to the 2006 tournament when 21 matches were played over 29 days, 15 matches will be played in 17 days this year in what is a much shorter, sharper format. The first semifinal will be played at the National Stadium in Karachi on September 24, while Rawalpindi will host the second semifinal on September 25.
Gaddafi Stadium, which hosted the final of the 1996 ICC World Cup, has been selected to stage the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2008.
In India, two years ago, sides ranked 7th to 10th in the LG ODI Rankings started the tournament by contesting a preliminary round with a round-robin format.
|
