MCG to host final as in 1992; Sydney, Auckland to stage semis Pakistan, India drawn in same pool for 2015 World Cup MELBOURNE, July 30: The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) will host the final of the 2015 cricket World Cup, with New Zealand`s Christchurch to kick off the one-day tournament four years after being devastated by an earthquake. The March 29 final at the MCG comes 23 years after a bumper crowd saw Imran Khan`s Pakistandefeat England for their maiden World Cup at Melbourne`s 100,000-seat coliseum. The semi-finals will be at the Sydney Cricket Ground and Auckland`s Eden Park. The co-hosts, who also teamed up to put on the 1992 World Cup, have adjusted their international seasons to allow for the tournament, which will see 49matches played over 44 days. The honour of the first match, however, will go to Christchurch, which mourned the deaths of just under 200 people in the Feb 22 earthquake and had to cancel rugby World Cup matches later in 2011 in a further blow to the city`s morale. Christchurch will host 1996 champions Sri Lanka and New Zealand on Feb 14, and two further pool matches book-ending the four-year anniversary of the earthquake, pending clearance from a local Environment Court to allow redevelopment of an oval on the city`s Hagley Park. `We need to make certain [the tournament] captures the hearts and minds of everybody and so in New Zealand and all the discussions, Christchurch was obviously a very big issue, the tournament`s chief executive John Harnden told reporters at the launch in Melbourne`s Docklands. `And what a great opportunity, for all the people in Christchurch who have done so much hard work to rebuild their city and get it back open for business, to broadcast that to the world. Australia`s SCG, Adelaide Oval and the MCG will host three of the quarter-finals, with the fourth in New Zealand`s capital Wellington. The 2015 World Cup will feature the 10 full member nations of the International Cricket Council plus Ireland, who have won qualification, and three other nations. Two of the remaining teams will be determined via a qualifying tournament in New Zealand in Jan 2014. Divided into two pools of seven, the teams play their group rivals in a round-robin format, with the top four from eachpool qualifying for the quarterfinals. Pool matches have been split evenly between both countries with seven cities hosting three pool matches each. Organisers expect an aggregate of more than one million people to attend the matches, and a billion viewers to watch broadcasts around the world. The lion`s share of television viewers will come from the subcontinent, and many may feel anxious about champion India`s hopes of defending their title. India, who defeated Sri Lanka in their home World Cup final two years ago, have rarely prospered on Australia`s hard pitches and will play pool matchesagainst West Indies and a qualifier on the country`s bounciest wicket at Perth`s WACA Ground, which is located in a more broadcast-friendly time zone for Indian TV viewers than cities further east. That follows two tough openers against Pakistan at Adelaide Oval on Feb 15, and South Africa at the MCG a week later. The prospect of India being bundled out at the group stage would be an unedifying one for organisers and the nation of a billion people. `I heard [it`s] because of the broadcast,` Kapil Dev, who captained the team to their maiden World Cup triumph in 1983, said at the launch.`Sometimes the team want to play somewhere else because they feel comfortable, but I think broadcasters want to make money ... can`t really avoid that. `I would like to say from the India point of view they like to play in Adelaide or Melbourne or somewhere [where] the bounce is not so much. Hosts Australia will bid for a record fifth World Cup win and will face bitter rivals England in their opening match at the MCG on Feb 14. Pools: Group `A`: England, Australia, sri Lanka, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Qualifier 2, Qualifier 3. Group `B`: South Africa, India, Pakistan, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Treland, Qualifier 4.Fixtures: Feb 14: Sri Lanka v New Zealand (Christchurch); England v Australia (Melbourne). Feb 15: South Africa v Zimbabwe (Hamilton); India v Pakistan (Adelaide). Feb 16: West Indies v Treland (Nelson) Feb 17: New Zealand v Qualifier 3 (Dunedin). Feb 18: Bangladesh v Qualifier 2 (Canberra). Feb 19: Zimbabwe v Qualifier 4 (Nelson). Feb 20: England v New Zealand (Wellingmih Feb 21: Pakistan v West Indies (Christchurch); Australia v Bangladesh (Brisbane). Feb 22; Sri Lanka v Qualifier 2 (Dunedin); South Africa v India (Melbourne). Feb 23: England v Qualifier 3 (Christchurch). Feb 24: West Indies v Zimbabwe (Canberra). Feb 25: Ireland v Qualifier 4 (Brisbanc). Feb 26: Qualifier 2 y Qualifier 3 (Dunedin); Sri Lanka v Rungladesh (Melbourne). Feb 27: South Africa v West Indies (Sydney). Feb 28: Australia v New Zealand (Auckland ); India v Qualifier 4 (Porth). March 1: England v Sri I anka (Wellington); Pakistan v Zimbabwe (Brisbane). March 3: South Africa v Ireland (Canberra). March 4: Pakistan v Qualifier 4 (Napier); Australia v Qualifier 2 (Perth). March 5: Rangladesh v Qualifier 3 (Nelson). March 6: India v West Indies (Perth). March 7: South Africa v Pakistan (Aucidand); Zimbabwe v Ireland (Hobart). March 8: New Zealand v Qualifier 2 (Napier); Australia v Sri Lanka (Sydney). March 9: England v Rangladesh (Adelaide). March 10: India v Treland (TIamilton). March 11: Sri Lanka v Qualifier 3 (ITobart). March 12: South Africa v Qualifier 4 (Wellington). March 13: Bangladesh v New Zealand (TTamilton); England v Qualifier 2 (Sydney). March 14: India v 7.imbabwe (Auckland); Australia v Qualifier 3 (ITobart). March 15: West Indies v Qualifier 4 (Napier); Pakistan v Ireland (Adelaide). March 18: Quarter-final 1 (Sy dney). March 19: Quarter-final 2 (Melbourne). March 20: Quarter-final 3 (Adelaide). March 21: Quarter-final 4 (Wellington). March 24: Semi-final 1 (Auckland). March 25: Semi-final 2 (Sydney). March 29: Final (Melbourne).-Reuters
Posted on: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 06:51:08 +0000
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