India to play against England and Netherlands in World Cup warm-ups

DUBAI: India will play two official warm-up matches against England and the Netherlands, ahead of their ODI World Cup opener against Australia, the ICC said on Wednesday.

The two-time winners India will face defending champion England in the first warm-up game on September 30 at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati, after which they will travel to Thiruvananthapuram to face the Netherlands on October 3.

A total of three venues -- Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram and Hyderabad -- will host the official warm-up matches for all the 10 teams before the World Cup opener in Ahmedabad on October 5 between New Zealand and England.

''The 10 teams will each play two official 50-over contests during the week leading up to the start of the World Cup on October 5, with matches to be held in three different cities across India,'' the ICC said in a release. ''The matches will be held in Guwahati, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram between Friday 29 September and Tuesday 3 October and will provide teams with the perfect opportunity to acclimatise to the conditions they are expected to face during the World Cup.'' All matches in the warm-up round will start in the afternoon. ''All games will commence at 2:00pm IST and teams will be allowed to field all members of their 15-player squads during the matches," the ICC said.

Schedule: September 29: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka (Guwahati), South Africa vs Afghanistan, (Thiruvananthapuram) and New Zealand vs Pakistan (Hyderabad). September 30: India vs England (Guwahati), Australia vs Netherlands (Thiruvananthapuram). October 2: England vs Bangladesh (Guwahati), New Zealand vs South Africa (Thiruvananthapuram). October 3: India vs Netherlands (Thiruvananthapuram), Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka (Guwahati), Pakistan vs Australia (Hyderabad).