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The ultra-lucrative Champions Trophy 2009 to be held in South Africa in September, just got a whole lot more exciting with the prize money pool bumped up to over US $4 million, an-almost four-fold increase over the 2004 and 2006 editions of the tournament.
The funds are at stake during a re-modelled short, sharp event of 15 matches in only 14 days in September and October taking place at two venues - Centurion Park and The Wanderers.
For the first time the ICC Champions Trophy will feature only the top eight sides in the world in the only global multi-team 50-over-a-side tournament between the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup in the Caribbean and the next edition of that event, in the Asian sub-continent in two years tim e.
Those teams - Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, hosts South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies - have been divided into two pools of four, with the top two from each pool progressing to the semi-finals stage.
Pool A - Australia, India, Pakistan, West Indies
Pool B - South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, England
The action begins on Tuesday 22 September with hosts South Africa in action against Sri Lanka in a day-night encounter at Centurion Park (the location for the women's world cup final of 2005) and it will end with a day-night final at the same venue on Monday 5 October.
Holder Australia begins the defence of its ICC CT crown against the West Indies in a repeat of the 2006 final.
That match will take place as a day game at The Wanderers, Johannesburg on Saturday 26 September and is part of a blockbuster day of action as, later on, India and Pakistan will go head-to-head in a day-night encounter at Centurion Park.
The comprehensive match schedule is as follows:
| DATE | TIME (IST) | VENUE | MATCH |
| Tue, Sept 22 | 6pm | Centurion | SA vs SL |
| Wed, Sept 23 | 6pm | The Wanderers | Pak vs WI |
| Thu, Sept 24 | 1pm | Centurion | SA vs NZ |
| Fri, Sept 25 | 6pm | The Wanderers | SL vs Eng |
| Sat, Sept 26 | 1pm | The Wanderers | WI vs Aus |
| Sat, Sept 26 | 6pm | Centurion | Ind vs Pak |
| Sun, Sept 27 | 1pm | The Wanderers | NZ vs SL |
| Sun, Sept 27 | 6pm | Centurion | SA vs Eng |
| Mon, Sept 28 | 6pm | Centurion | Aus vs Ind |
| Tue, Sept 29 | 6pm | The Wanderers | Eng vs NZ |
| Wed, Sept 30 | 1pm | Centurion | Aus vs Pak |
| Wed, Sept 30 | 6pm | The Wanderers | WI vs Ind |
| DATE | TIME (IST) | VENUE | MATCH |
| Fri, Oct 2 | 6pm | Centurion | A1 vs B2 |
| Sat, Oct 3 | 6pm | The Wanderers | B1 vs A2 |
| Mon, Oct 5 | 6pm | Centurion | The Final |
Local Time: Day Games: 9:30am (1pm - IST), Day-Night Games: 2:30pm (6pm IST)
The ICC Champions Trophy began life as the ICC Knock-Out in 1998 and was played every two years through the 2006, changing its name for the 2002 edition.
The sides to have won the event are South Africa (in Bangladesh, 1998), New Zealand (Kenya, 2000), India and Sri Lanka (joint winners after the final was washed out in Sri Lanka, 2002), the West Indies (England, 2004) and Australia (India, 2006).
Click here to download the schedule
File Photograph Copyright: ICC
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