Twenty20 World Cup Championship 2007: Inaugural ceremony & South Africa vs West Indies

Twenty20 World Cup Championship 2007 is going to start on 11 September in South Africa at Johannesburg. In the first match host country South Africa and West Indies. The match will start at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg and live action starts from: 16:00 GMT (21:30 IST). Millions of cricket fans are waiting for the new formatted Twenty20 World Cup Championship.

The Hindu reported that the formal launch of the inaugural championship took place at The Dome on Thursday, where ICC president Ray Mali, ICC cricket manager Dave Richardson, tournament director Steve Elworthy, Cricket South Africa president Norman Arendse and South African cricket team members including captain Graeme Smith spoke on the tournament.

The colourful ceremony, hosted by former Zimbabwe cricketer Pommie Mbangwa highlighted the growing audience of Twenty20 cricket, the importance of a successful championship for cricket and South Africa, and the role it could play in luring non-traditional cricket watchers into watching Tests and ODIs.

“The format is such that it gives an opportunity for cricketers to show people how good they are. They will be able to play with more freedom and less inhibitions, and express themselves better,” said Richardson.

The total prize money for the tournament will be $1.9 million.

The cricket fans will take pleasure in the new formatted Twenty20 World Cup Championship.

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Five one day match series: Last opportunity to modify both of the team

After playing the test series South Africa and Pakistan both are taking preparation for one day International. In 5 match series they both will show their highest performance which they will implement in the next Cricket World Cup in West Indies.

Angola press reported:

South Africa’s 15-man squad for the series is their probable World Cup party, while Pakistan have named a 17-man squad for the series, indicating they need to do some fine tuning ahead of the tournament in the Caribbean.

"It’s taken us two years to build our one-day team," said South African captain Graeme Smith. "We’ve been pretty consistent in one-day cricket over the last few years and we would like to carry that on going forward to the World Cup. We’re a powerful one-day team and we’re confident."

Smith said Pakistan would provide strong opposition in a battle between the second and third teams on the International Cricket Council rankings.

It is the last chance to adjust their team before world cup cricket. So both teams will take this series very serious.