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India to take on Kiwis in Sharjah opener

Sonny Abraham in Sharjah

India will face New Zealand in the opening match of the $ 85,000 three-nation Coca-Cola Cup day-night cricket tournament at Sharjah from April 17 to 24.

India's match with Australia, the other team in the tournament, is scheduled for April 19.

Each team will play the other twice in the preliminary league before the top two sides clash in the final.

The winners will get $ 40,000, the runners-up $ 30,000 and the third-placed team $ 15,000, Abdul Rahman Bukhatir, vice-chairman of the Cricketers Benefit Fund Series, the tournament's organisers, told reporters on Thursday.

Apart from this, there will also be man of the match prizes of $ 1,000 for each of the preliminary matches and $ 1,500 for the final. The man of the series will get $ 2,500, he said. There will also be $ 1,000 prizes for the batsman who scores the fastest 50, the best bowler and the best fielder.

Javed Akhtar of Pakistan, Ian Robinson of Zimbabwe and Steve Bucknor of the West Indies will be the umpires while Talat Ali of Pakistan has been named as the tournament referee by the International Cricket Council.

Former Indian Test players Pankaj Roy, Brijesh Patel and Shivlal Yadav will be the beneficiaries of the tournament. Beneficiaries in the past have got around $ 35,000 each.

In all, the CBFS has given benefit purses to more than 100 players so far, who have collectively received more than $ 3 million.

The New Zealanders are expected to arrive on April 13, the Australians on April 15 and the Indians on April 16. This will be the second flood-lit event at the Sharjah cricket stadium.

The CBFS has invited Australian Kerry Packer, who popularised the instant variety of the game in the late seventies, to attend the tournament.

The tournament schedule:

April 17: India vs New Zealand

April 18: Australia vs New Zealand

April 19: India vs Australia

April 20: India vs New Zealand

April 21: Australia vs New Zealand

April 22: India vs Australia

April 24: Final

The match timings (in IST):

1630 hours to 2000 hours (first session)

2000 hours to 2045 hours (dinner)

2045 hours to 0015 hours (second session)

UNI