The Melbourne Cricket Ground will host World Cup Final for second time in its history. Lord’s is the only other venue which has hosted the Final more than once.
The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 will be staged in Australia and New Zealand from 14 February to 29 March, and India will begin its title defence against traditional rival Pakistan in Adelaide on 15 February, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced today.
Pakistan will play their six pool matches, three each in Australia and New Zealand. However, they won’t be playing any pool game at Melbourne or Sydney as they play twice at Adelaide and once at Brisbane. In New Zealand, their venues will be Auckland, Napier and Christchurch.
The four venues for the Quarter Finals are Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Wellington. The Semi Finals will be played at Sydney and Auckland, same as World Cup 1992. Australia and New Zealand, if qualify, will get preference to play the Quarter and the Semi at their home venues.
The World Cup 2015 will follow the pattern of the previous World Cup. 14 teams are placed in two groups, each having seven. The top four teams from each group will qualify for the Quarter Finals.
A total of 49 matches will be played in the 44-day tournament across 14 venues in the two countries. Australia will stage 26 matches in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, whilst the 23 matches in New Zealand will be held in Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, Napier, Nelson and Wellington.
Key Notes
The World Cup starts at February 14 with match between the hosts New Zealand and Sri Lanka at Christchurch.
England and Australia will lock horns on the same day (February 14) at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Pakistan and India will play their first match on second day of the World Cup at Adelaide Oval on February 15.
The Melbourne Cricket Ground will host World Cup Final for second time in its history. Lord’s is the only other venue which has hosted the Final more than once.
The event will be broadcast in Pakistan on PTV and Ten Sports, in India on Star Sports and in USA on ESPN.
All the knockout matches (Quarter Finals, Semi Finals and Final) will have a reserve day.
Groups
A: England, Australia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Qualifier 2 and Qualifier 3
B: South Africa, India, Pakistan, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Ireland and Qualifier 4
Pakistan’s matches
February 15: Pakistan vs India at Adelaide
February 21: Pakistan vs West Indies at Christchurch
March 1: Pakistan vs Zimbabwe at Brisbane
March 4: Pakistan vs Qualifier 4 at Napier
March 7: Pakistan vs South Africa at Auckland
March 15: Pakistan vs Ireland at Adelaide
The Ireland-Pakistan match will be the last match of group stage. So in case the equation comes down to Run Rate, Ireland and Pakistan will know the NRR scenarios beforehand.
A strange pattern follows in Pakistan’s schedule. There is seven-day gap between their second and third match whereas the gap between third and fourth match is only of two days, during which they will travel from Australia (Brisbane) to New Zealand (Napier).
Quarter Finals
March 18: At Sydney Cricket Ground
March 19: At Melbourne Cricket Ground
March 20: At Adelaide Oval
March 21: At Wellington Regional Stadium
Semi Finals
March 24: At Eden Park Auckland
March 26: At Sydney Cricket Ground
FINAL
March 29: At Melbourne Cricket Ground