July 31  
Pakistan face Kenya in tri-series opener 

KARACHI: Pakistan face hosts Kenya in the opening match of next month's cricket tri-series which was shifted to a neutral venue over security fears in Pakistan, officials here said Tuesday.

World champions Australia, who cited security concerns over playing in Pakistan, is the third team in the competition to be held in Nairobi from August 29 to September 7.

Australia play in the second match of the tournament against Pakistan on August 30. The top two teams meet in the final on September 7.

The Australian Cricket Board has approved the itinerary and Pakistan and Australian officials will visit Nairobi to oversee the final arrangements later this week, Pakistan Cricket Board director Chishty Mujahid said.

The tri-series, originally scheduled to be held in Karachi, was shifted after two bomb blasts in the southern port city in May and June killing 26 people.

The first blast happened outside a five star hotel in Karachi on May 8 where the New Zealand team was staying. They cut short their tour of Pakistan and returned home.

New Zealand declined to play in Kenya earlier this month saying they wanted to save their players from burn out before the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka in September.

Kenya took their place. Following are the fixtures for the tri-nation one-day tournament in Kenya announced: 

Fixtures:
Thursday, August 29: Pakistan v Kenya 
Friday, August 30: Pakistan v Australia 
Saturday, August 31: Rest day 
Sunday, September 1: Pakistan v Kenya 
Monday, September 2: Australia v Kenya 
Tuesday, September 3: Rest day 
Wednesday, September 4: Pakistan v Australia 
Thursday, September 5 : Australia v Kenya 
Friday, September 6: Rest day 
Saturday, September 7: Final