Cape Town - The opening match of IPL 2009 will be played at Newlands in Cape Town on April 18, and the final will be held at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on May 24, according to reports in the Indian media.

The IPL is yet to officially release its schedule, and at least two franchises have confirmed to leading cricket website, Cricinfo, that they haven't received an official copy, but PTI and the Hindu have released what they have claimed is the tournament fixture list.

According to these reports, a double-header lined up on the opening day will have defending champions Rajasthan Royals taking on the Bangalore Royal Challengers in the first match, followed by the clash between last year's runners-up Chennai Super Kings and the Mumbai Indians at the same venue.

In all, the 59 matches will be held across eight cities - Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Pretoria, East London, Kimberley, Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth, the reports said.

Kingsmead in Durban, which has a sizeable Indian-origin population, has been reportedly allocated 16 matches while Centurion Park in Pretoria will host 12 ties. The Wanderers in Johannesburg and Newlands in Cape Town will stage eight matches each, while St George's Park in Port Elizabeth and Buffalo Park in East London have been given seven and four matches respectively, the reports said. Two matches each have been handed to the Outsurance Oval in Bloemfontein and De Beers Oval in Kimberley.

The matches will be held at 12:30 and 16:30 SA time.

Schedule:

April 18: Rajasthan Royals (RR) v Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at Cape Town; Mumbai Indians (MI) v Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Cape Town
April 19: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) v Deccan Chargers (DC) at Cape Town; Delhi Daredevils (DD) v Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at Cape Town
April 20: RCB V CSK at Port Elizabeth
April 21: RR v MI at Durban; KKR v KXIP at Durban
April 22: DD v CSK at Durban; RCB v DC at Cape Town
April 23: KKR v RR at Port Elizabeth
April 24: KXIP v RCB at Johannesburg
April 25: KKR v CSK at Cape Town; DC v MI at Durban
April 26: RR v KXIP at Cape Town; RCB v DD at Port Elizabeth
April 27: KKR v MI at Cape Town; CSK v DC at Durban
April 28: DD v RR at Pretoria
April 29: MI v KXIP at Durban; KKR v RCB at Durban
April 30: DD v DC at Pretoria; RR v CSK at Pretoria
May 1: RCB v KXIP at East London; MI v KKR at Durban
May 2: RR v DC at Johannesburg; CSK v DD at Port Elizabeth
May 3: MI v RCB at Durban; KXIP v KKR at East London
May 4: DC v CSK at Port Elizabeth
May 5: DD v KKR at Durban; KXIP v RR at Durban
May 6: MI v DC at Pretoria
May 7: KXIP v CSK at Pretoria; RCB v RR at Pretoria
May 8: DD v MI at East London
May 9: DC v KXIP at Bloemfontein; CSK v RR at Port Elizabeth
May 10: KKR v DD at East London; RCB v MI at Johannesburg
May 11: DC v RR at Bloemfontein
May 12: RCB v KKR at Pretoria; KXIP v MI at Pretoria
May 13: DC v DD at Durban
May 14: MI v RR at Durban; CSK v RCB at Durban
May 15: KXIP v DD at Kimberley
May 16: CSK v MI at Johannesburg; DC v KKR at Port Elizabeth
May 17: RR v DD at Kimberley; KXIP v DC at Johannesburg
May 18: CSK v KKR at Pretoria
May 19: DD v RCB at Johannesburg
May 20: CSK v KXIP at Durban; RR v KKR at Durban
May 21: DC v RCB at Pretoria; MI v DD at Pretoria

May 22: Semi-final 1 at Pretoria
May 23: Semi-final 2 at Johannesburg

May 24: Final at Johannesburg