|
IPL tournament – South African cricket lovers in for a royal treat
Player/coach Shane Warne and his Indian Premier League (IPL) defending champions the Rajasthan Royals with South Africans Graeme Smith and Morné Morkel in tow will open the Tshwane chapter of this swashbuckling T20 cricket extravaganza when they take on the Delhi Daredevils at SuperSport Park on Tuesday April 28.
The tournament - which was moved to South Africa last week amid security concerns in India - will squeeze 59 games into just 34 days, starting in Cape Town on Saturday April 18 and finishing with the final on Sunday May 24. “Of course, accommodation for fans is going to be at a premium,” says Robert Wilson, CEO of travelinsouthafrica.net and advises everyone to sort out their accommodation and travel arrangements in SA now. The Bangalore Royal Chargers will feature the most South Africans of any IPL team, including the newest Proteas hero Roelof van der Merwe. Dale Steyn, Dillon du Preez, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher are the other South Africans contracted to the Royal Chargers. Van der Merwe, who scored a quick-fire 48 off 30 balls, followed by a run out of Callum Ferguson and then claimed the key wicket of David Hussey in a superb all-round performance for the South Africans in helping them beat Australia at SuperSport Park on Sunday, confirmed that he had signed for the franchise in February.
Van der Merwe was also celebrating his inclusion in the South African one-day international squad yesterday. South Africa's Herschelle Gibbs has also made it on to the team list of the Deccan Chargers. Gibbs, who was associated with the Hansie Cronje match-fixing saga, has not returned to India since serving a ban for his involvement. Indian police have wished to question him over the issue. Although eight grounds will be in use the IPL had decided not to allocate "home" venues to any of the franchises. Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg are the cities with the largest Indian population and it was decided to play 33 of the 56 regular season games in these grounds. Fans will have the opportunity to enjoy numerous tourist attractions between matches:
Each franchise is scheduled to play a total of seven to nine games in these three grounds.
o This article was originally published on page 12 of Pretoria News on March 31, 2009
|
