England face Dutch in Cup opener

England will face the Netherlands, the team who stunned them at Lord's last summer, in their first match of the next Cricket World Cup in Asia.

The Dutch beat England in the ICC World Twenty20 opener at Lord's, but England will get a chance for revenge on 22 February 2011 in Napgur, India.

The opening ceremony takes place in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 17 February.

India play Bangladesh two days later in the first of 49 matches in all, with the final in Mumbai on 2 April.

With two groups of seven, and four from each progressing to the quarter-finals, England's five other group games are against India, South Africa, Ireland, West Indies and Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka will unveil two new venues during the course of the tournament - Hambantota and Pallekele.

Captain Kumar Sangakkara said: "Everybody in Sri Lanka is excited about the new venues. From what I have heard of Pallekele, it's a fantastic venue - and so is Hambantota.

"Pallekele is just outside Kandy, and Hambantota is situated close to a beach. Sri Lanka is very focused on taking cricket to the out-stations, and these are the first steps in that long journey.

Champions Australia will begin the defence of their title against India in Ahmedabad on 21 February.

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat believes the World Cup will cement the status of the 50-over game - which some believe to be under threat following the advent of Twenty20 cricket.

He said: "We have three viable, vibrant and successful formats of the game at international level."

Group A: Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Canada, Kenya.

Group B: India, South Africa, England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland, Netherlands.

(Four teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals)

Venues:

India (29 matches) - Mumbai, Mohali, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, New Delhi

Sri Lanka (12 matches) - Colombo, Hambantota, Pallekele

Bangladesh (8 matches) - Dhaka, Chittagong

February:

17: Opening ceremony, Dhaka

19: India v Bangladesh, Dhaka

20: New Zealand v Kenya, Chennai; Sri Lanka v Canada, Hambantota

21: Australia v Zimbabwe, Ahmedabad

22: England v Netherlands, Nagpur

23: Pakistan v Kenya, Hambantota

24: South Africa v West Indies, New Delhi

25: Australia v New Zealand, Nagpur; Bangladesh v Ireland, Dhaka

26: Sri Lanka v Pakistan, Colombo

27: India v England, Kolkata

28: West Indies v Netherlands, New Delhi; Zimbabwe v Canada, Nagpur

March

1: Sri Lanka v Kenya, Colombo

2: England v Ireland, Bangalore

3: South Africa v Netherlands, Mohali; Pakistan v Canada, Colombo

4: New Zealand v Zimbabwe, Ahmedabad; Bangladesh v West Indies, Dhaka

5: Sri Lanka v Australia, Colombo

6: India v Ireland, Bangalore; England v South Africa, Chennai

7: Kenya v Canada, New Delhi

8: Pakistan v New Zealand, Pallekele

9: India v Netherlands, New Delhi

10: Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe, Pallekele

11: West Indies v Ireland, Mohali; Bangladesh v England, Chittagong

12: India v South Africa, Nagpur

13: New Zealand v Canada, Mumbai; Australia v Kenya, Bangalore

14: Pakistan v Zimbabwe, Pallekele; Bangladesh v Netherlands, Chittagong

15: South Africa v Ireland, Kolkata

16: Australia v Canada, Bangalore

17: England v West Indies, Chennai

18: Sri Lanka v New Zealand, Mumbai; Ireland v Netherlands, Kolkata

19: Australia v Pakistan, Colombo; Bangladesh v South Africa, Dhaka

20: Zimbabwe v Kenya, Kolkata; India v West Indies, Chennai

Knockout phase

23: First quarter-final, Dhaka

24: Second quarter-final, Colombo

25: Third quarter-final, Dhaka

26: Fourth quarter-final, Ahmedabad

29: First semi-final, Colombo

30: Second semi-final, Mohali

April

2: Final, Mumbai

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