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 schedule (All times IST):

April 18: Rajasthan Royals (RR) v Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) (4 pm) in Cape Town; Mumbai Indians (MI) v Chennai Super Kings (CSK) (8 pm) in Cape Town
April 19: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) v Deccan Chargers (DC) (4 pm) in Cape Town; Delhi Daredevils (DD) v Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) (8 pm) in Cape Town
April 20: RCB V CSK (4 pm) in Port Elizabeth
April 21: RR v MI (4 pm) in Durban; KKR v KXIP (8 pm) in Durban
April 22: DD v CSK (4 pm) in Durban; RCB v DC (8 pm) in Cape Town
April 23: KKR v RR (4 pm) in Port Elizabeth
April 24: KXIP v RCB (4 pm) in Johannesburg
April 25: KKR v CSK (4 pm) in Cape Town; DC v MI (8 pm) in Durban
April 26: RR v KXIP (4 pm) in Cape Town; RCB v DD (8 pm) Port Elizabeth
April 27: KKR v MI (4 pm) in Cape Town; CSK v DC (8 pm) in Durban
April 28: DD v RR (4 pm) in Centurion
April 29: MI v KXIP (4 pm) in Durban; KKR v RCB (8 pm) in Durban
April 30: DD v DC (4 pm) in Supersport Park; RR v CSK (8 pm) in Centurion
May 1: RCB v KXIP (4 pm) in East London; MI v KKR (8 pm) in Durban
May 2: RR v DC (4 pm) in Johannesburg; CSK v DD (8 pm) in Port Elizabeth
May 3: MI v RCB (4 pm) in Durban; KXIP v KKR (8 pm) in East London
May 4: DC v CSK (4 pm) in Port Elizabeth
May 5: DD v KKR (4 pm) in Durban; KXIP v RR (8 pm) in Durban
May 6: MI v DC (4 pm) in Centurion
May 7: KXIP v CSK (4 pm) in Supersport Park; RCB v RR (8 pm) in Centurion
May 8: DD v MI (4 pm) in East London
May 9: DC v KXIP (4 pm) in Bloemfontein; CSK v RR (8 pm) in Port Elizabeth
May 10: KKR v DD (4 pm) in East London; RCB v MI (8 pm) in Johannesburg
May 11: DC v RR (4 pm) in Bloemfontein
May 12: RCB v KKR (4 pm) in Centurion; KXIP v MI (8 pm) in Centurion
May 13: DC v DD (4 pm) in Durban
May 14: MI v RR (4 pm) in Durban; CSK v RCB (8 pm) in Durban
May 15: KXIP v DD (4 pm) in Kimberley
May 16: CSK v MI (4 pm) in Johannesburg; DC v KKR (8 pm) in Port Elizabeth
May 17: RR v DD (4 pm) in Kimberley; KXIP v DC (8 pm) in Johannesburg
May 18: CSK v KKR (4 pm) in Centurion
May 19: DD v RCB (4 pm) in Johannesburg
May 20: CSK v KXIP (4 pm) in Durban; RR v KKR (8 pm) in Durban
May 21: DC v RCB (4 pm) in Centurion; MI v DD (8 pm) in Centurion
May 22: Semi Final 1 in Centurion
May 23: Semi Final 2 in Johannesburg
May 24: Final in Johannesburg