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 a tournament schedule that has been circulated among the franchises and key BCCI officials.

The IPL is yet to officially release its schedule but according to the unofficial version, 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, Centurion, East London, Kimberley, Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth.

Kingsmead in Durban, which has a sizeable Indian-origin population, has been allocated 16 matches while Supersport Park in Centurion will host 12 ties. The Wanderers and Newlands 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. Two matches each have been handed to the Outsurance Oval in Bloemfontein and De Beers Oval in Kimberley.

The matches will be held at 12.30pm and 4.30pm (4.00pm and 8.00pm IST; 10.30am and 2.30pm GMT ).

The 12th match between Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians will be played on 25th April 2009 at Kingsmead, Durban.