ICC Champions Trophy 2013:
Sri Lanka in Group A
World champions India will open the 2013 Champions Trophy in England
and Wales with a clash against South Africa in Cardiff on June 6 next
year.
Meanwhile hosts England will begin the tournament by playing
defending champions and old rivals Australia at Birmingham's Edgbaston
ground.
The Champions Trophy, the “mini World Cup”, features the world's
eight leading nations in 50-over cricket.
Next year Group A will include Australia, England, New Zealand and
Sri Lanka while India, Pakistan, South Africa and the West Indies will
compete in Group B.
As well as Cardiff and Edgbaston, The Oval in south London will also
stage Champions Trophy fixtures, with the final at Edgbaston on June 23.
One of the standout group fixtures will be the clash between
sub-continental rivals India and Pakistan in Birmingham, which has one
of Britain's largest South Asian populations, on June 15.
“This will be a terrific opportunity for fans to see the world's very
best one-day sides in action over the space of less than three weeks and
the fixture schedule has thrown up a host of exciting head-to-head
contests,” said tournament director and former South Africa seamer Steve
Elworthy, after the England and Wales Cricket Board released the
fixtures on Tuesday.
Next year's edition will be the seventh and last Champions Trophy,
with the tournament being replaced by the International Cricket
Council's new World Test Championship instead.
Officials had hoped to launch the World Test Championship in 2013 but
sponsor and broadcast agreements meant they had to continue with the
Champions Trophy.
First played in 1998, the Champions Trophy has usually taken place
every two years, filling the “gap” between World Cups, staged every four
years.
But the 2008 edition due to be played in Pakistan was delayed because
of security concerns until 2009 when it was switched to South Africa,
where Australia beat New Zealand in the final.
The tournament hasn't been played since, with 2010 seeing the ICC
World Twenty20 in the Caribbean while last year India, on home soil, won
the 50-over World Cup by beating Sri Lanka in a final in Mumbai. AFP
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ICC Champions Trophy 2013 schedule:
Group A: Australia, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka
Group B: India, Pakistan, South Africa, West Indies
[Fixtures]
Group stage
Jun 06: India v South Africa (Day) - Cardiff
Jun 07: West Indies v Pakistan (Day) - The Oval
Jun 08: England v Australia (Day) - Edgbaston
Jun 09: Sri Lanka v New Zealand (Day) - Cardiff
Jun 10: Pakistan v South Africa (Day) - Edgbaston
Jun 11: India v West Indies (Day) - The Oval
Jun 12: Australia v New Zealand (Day/Night) - Edgbaston
Jun 13: England v Sri Lanka (Day/Night) - The Oval
Jun 14: West Indies v South Africa (Day) - Cardiff
Jun 15: India v Pakistan (Day) - Edgbaston
Jun 16: England v New Zealand (Day) - Cardiff
Jun 17: Sri Lanka v Australia (Day/Night) - The Oval
[Knockout]
Jun 19: Semi-final A1 v B2 (Day) - The Oval
Jun 20: Semi-final A2 v B1 (Day) - Cardiff
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