JOHANNESBURG (Reuters)
Hosts South Africa will play West Indies in the opening game of the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Tournament executive director Ali Bacher said the day/night match would be staged at Newlands in Cape Town in the first week of February.

The event's two groups were also announced, with South Africa and West Indies in Pool B alongside Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Kenya and Canada.

Australia, Pakistan, India, England, Zimbabwe, the Netherlands and Namibia are in Pool A. The seedings were based on one-day results since the previous tournament in 1999.

Dr Bacher said in a press release that West Indies had been chosen for the World Cup curtain raiser because of the "tremendous impact" they had made on international cricket.

"South African cricket has long admired and respected the incredible contribution that the West Indies have made to the international game through the uniqueness of their cricket and their great players," he said.

President of West Indies Cricket Board of Control (WICB) Wes Hall responded from Antigua: "This is indeed a great honour for the people of the West Indies. It further emphasizes the close ties that have existed between our two countries since South Africa re-entered international cricket with the inaugural Test match in Barbados in 1992.

"We are not currently in the top three of international cricket but ... by 2003, this West Indies team will be right on song."

The event's match dates will be published on October 27. Some changes have been made to the original schedule to fit in with television programming, according to Bacher. The opening game was set for February 6 but could be moved forward a day or two. The final, provisionally scheduled for March 18 or 19 at The Wanderers ground in Johannesburg, is also set to be moved forward.

"We decided that it would be best for the final to be played on the weekend to ensure the biggest global television audience," said Bacher. "So the final will now be played on either Saturday March 15 or Sunday March 16."

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd