South Africa to play Windies in Twenty20 opener

JOHANNESBURG, Mar 30 (Reuters) Hosts South Africa will open the inaugural Twenty20 world championship against the West Indies in Johannesburg on September 11, Cricket South Africa have announced.

The tournament is being held from September 11 to 24, with matches in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.

Bangladesh are the other team in South Africa's group, while World Cup champions Australia are drawn with Zimbabwe and England.

There are four groups in total with the top two sides in each going through to a Super Eight phase, followed by semi-finals on Sept. 22 and the final two days later.

Group A: South Africa, West Indies, Bangladesh.

Group B: Australia, England, Zimbabwe.

Group C: New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Kenya.

Group D: Pakistan, India, Scotland.

Fixtures Sept. 11: South Africa v West Indies (Johannesburg).

Sept. 12: New Zealand v Kenya (Durban); Pakistan v Scotland (Durban); Australia v Zimbabwe (Cape Town).

Sept. 13: West Indies v Bangladesh (Johannesburg); Zimbabwe v England (Cape Town); India v Scotland (Durban).

Sept. 14: Sri Lanka v Kenya (Johannesburg); Australia v England (Cape Town); India v Pakistan (Durban).

Sept. 15: Sri Lanka v New Zealand (Johannesburg); South Africa v Bangladesh (Cape Town).

Sept. 16: C1 v D2 (Johannesburg); B1 v A2 (Cape Town); A1 v B2 (Cape Town).

Sept. 17: D1 v C2 (Johannesburg).

Sept. 18: C1 v B2 (Durban); B1 v D1 (Johannesburg); A2 v C2 (Johannesburg).

Sept. 19: A1 v C1 (Durban); B2 v D2 (Durban).

Sept. 20: B1 v C2 (Cape Town); A2 v D1 (Cape Town); A1 v D2 (Durban).

Sept. 22: Semi-final E2 v F1 (Cape Town); Semi-final E1 v F2 (Durban).

Sept. 24: Final (Johannesburg).

Reuters DH DB2207