IPL opener at Cape Town, final at Johannesburg

Cape Town will host the opening match of the Indian Premier League while Johannesburg will be the venue for the final of the Twenty20 event, which was shifted to South Africa due to a clash of dates with the general elections in India.

In a double header on the first day, reigning champions Rajasthan Royals will take on Royal Challengers, Bangalore, while Mumbai Indians would clash with first edition's runners-up Chennai Super Kings at The Newlands stadium Cape Town.

The Wanderers in Johannesburg will host the summit clash on May 24.

The semi-finals are to be held on May 22 and 23 in Pretoria and Johannesburg respectively, as per the full schedule of the Twenty20 League.

In all, the 59 matches will be held in eight cities: Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Pretoria, East London, Kimberly, Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth.

Kingsmead in Durban, which has a large number of South Asians, has been alloted the lion's share of 16 matches while the Centurion Park in Pretoria would host 12 ties.

The Wanderers in Johannesburg and Newlands in Cape Town come next best with eight matches each, with the latter playing host to four of these on the first two days of the high-profile competition.

Seven matches are to be held in St George's Park in Port Elizabeth while Buffalo Park in East London has been allotted four matches.

Two matches each have been handed over to Outsurance Oval in Bloemfontein and De Beers Oval in Kimberley. Matches would be held at 4 pm (12.30 pm local time) and 8 pm (4.30pm local time) IST.

There are a total of ten double headers (two matches back to back at the same venue) with Durban hosting half of these.

The schedule is (All times IST):

April 18: Rajasthan Royals v Royal Challengers Bangalore (4 pm) at Cape Town; Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings (8 pm) at Cape Town

April 19: Kolkata Knight Riders v Deccan Chargers (4 pm) at Cape Town; Delhi Daredevils v Kings XI Punjab (8 pm) at Cape Town.

April 20: RCB V CSK (4 pm) at Port Elizabeth.

April 21: RR v MI (4 pm) at Durban; KKR v KXIP (8 pm) at Durban

April 22: DD v CSK (4 pm) at Durban; RCB v DC (8 pm) at Cape Town

April 23: KKR v RR (4 pm) at Port Elizabeth

April 24: KXIP v RCB (4 pm) at Johannesburg

April 25: KKR v CSK (4 pm) at Cape Town; DC v MI (8 pm) at Durban.

April 26: RR v KXIP (4 pm) at Cape Town; RCB v DD (8 pm) Port Elizabeth

April 27: KKR v MI (4 pm) at Cape Town; CSK v DC (8 pm) at Durban.

April 28: DD v RR (4 pm) at Pretoria

April 29: MI v KXIP (4 pm) at Durban; KKR v RCB (8 pm) at Durban

April 30: DD v DC (4 pm) at Pretoria; RR v CSK (8 pm) at Pretoria.

May 1: RCB v KXIP (4 pm) at East London; MI v KKR (8 pm) at Durban

May 2: RR v DC (4 pm) at Johannesburg; CSK v DD (8 pm) at Port Elizabeth

May 3: MI v RCB (4 pm) at Durban; KXIP v KKR (8 pm) at East London.

May 4: DC v CSK (4 pm) at Port Elizabeth

May 5: DD v KKR (4 pm) at Durban; KXIP v RR (8 pm) at Durb

May 6: MI v DC (4 pm) at Pretoria

May 7: KXIP v CSK (4 pm) at Pretoria; RCB v RR (8 pm) at Pretoria

May 8: DD v MI (4 pm) at East London

May 9: DC v KXIP (4 pm) at Bloemfontein; CSK v RR (8 pm) at Port Elizabeth

May 10: KKR v DD (4 pm) at East London; RCB v MI (8 pm) at Johannesburg

May 11: DC v RR (4 pm) at Bloemfontein

May 12: RCB v KKR (4 pm) at Pretoria; KXIP v MI (8 pm) at Pretoria.

May 13: DC v DD (4 pm) at Durban

May 14: MI v RR (4 pm) at Durban; CSK v RCB (8 pm) at Durban.

May 15: KXIP v DD (4 pm) at Kimberley

May 16: CSK v MI (4 pm) at Johannesburg; DC v KKR (8 pm) at Port Elizabeth.

May 17: RR v DD (4 pm) at Kimberley; KXIP v DC (8 pm) at Johannesburg

May 18: CSK v KKR (4 pm) at Pretoria

May 19: DD v RCB (4 pm) at Johannesburg

May 20: CSK v KXIP (4 pm) at Durban; RR v KKR (8 pm) at Durban

May 21: DC v RCB (4 pm) at Pretoria; MI v DD (8 pm) at Pretoria

May 22: Semi Final 1 at Pretoria

May 23: Semi Final 2 at Johannesburg

May 24: Final at Johannesburg.