Cape Town will host eight of the 58 South African-based fixtures of the Indian Premier League series, including the opening match on April 18, 2009. The series of 20/20 cricket matches gets off to a flying start at Newlands cricket grounds.

South Africa was asked to host the matches between April 18 and May 24, as the tournament falls over the Indian general election period.

Twelve South African cricketers play for teams in the 2009 Indian Premier League. Proteas captain Graeme Smith will return to the Rajasthan Royals, the team he played for during the 2008 season. Morné Morkel and Tyrone Henderson also play for the Rajasthan Royals.

Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, and Dale Steyn will be playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, while Albie Morkel and Makhaya Ntini will be playing for the Chennai Super Kings.

JP Duminy and Ryan McLaren will be batting for the Mumbai Indians. Herschelle Gibbs plays for the Deccan Chargers. AB de Villiers is with the Delhi Daredevils.

The following matches will be played at Newlands in Cape Town:

• April 18: Opening ceremony followed by Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers and Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings
• April 19: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Deccan Chargers; Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab
• April 22: Royal Challengers vs Deccan Chargers
• April 25: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings
• April 26: Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab
• April 27: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians

If you are keen to watch some of these fiercely contested matches, or just want to support our South African boys, log on to the Indian Premier League site for full details of all the matches.

Tickets are priced from R20 to R150 and can be purchased from the Computicket website.