MUMBAI: With less than 48 hours to go for the greatest extravaganza in the world of cricket to kick off, DD-Nimbus has managed to add two sponsors to its kitty closing its ad sales deals with a final tally of ten.

A Nimbus spokesperson says the sponsors list now reads thus: Presenting sponsors - Pepsi, LG Electronics, Hero Honda and BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam). Earlier, Coca Cola was the presenting sponsor but Pepsi exercised its veto right as the presenting sponsor of the ICC cricket World Cup 2003.

Associate sponsors - Maruti Alto, Indian Oil Servo lubricants, Hindustan Lever's Pepsodent and Lifebuoy. The spokesperson refused to divulge the names of the remaining two sponsors, but revealed that the clients were in the insurance and airline sector. The spokesperson also asserted that Nimbus has sold out 95 per cent of the inventory and put the total ad sales up to this point in the Rs 1500-1600 million range.

Sony and Max have also sold out their entire inventory with six presenting sponsors namely Pepsi, Hero Honda, Samsung, Hindustan Lever Clinic and Reliance Infocomm. Speaking about the value of the inventory, SET executive vice president, sales and revenue management Rohit Gupta says: "We have completed the internal targets that we set for ourselves. I would not like to disclose them. But, I would like to inform advertisers that we have a bare minimal number of reserve spots that we have withheld for the key matches involving India apart from the semi-finals and finals."

Meanwhile, Max is all geared up and waiting for the opening ceremony. The entire ceremony will be telecast on Max starting 11 pm (Indian standard time). "The opening ceremony is Dr Ali Bacher's personal baby. He has promised to create a once-in-a-lifetime show which the cricket world has never seen before," says Gupta.

Preparations on in South Africa for the opening ceremony of the World Cup cricket 2003

The World Cup Organising Committee has released the timing schedule for the opening ceremony of the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup taking place at the Newlands Cricket Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday 8 February.

It will be bigger than anything that cricket has before experienced and on a scale that will make all South Africans proud. That's the promise for the opening ceremony of the International Cricket Council World Cup to be hosted by South Africa in 2003.

"It will be an event that all South Africans should and will be proud of," says ICC Cricket World Cup organising committee executive director Dr Ali Bacher.

Starting 7:30 pm South Africa time (11 pm in India), audiences will be treated to an hour-long prelude with host of the show, comedian Marc Lottering. At 8:25 pm (South Africa time), the five-minute countdown to the show commences. The opening ceremony commences at 8:30 pm and comprises seven scenes and takes the audience on a trip around South Africa.

The different theme based scenes are as follows: Scene one - 'safari'; scene two: 'unity' - also on view will be pyrotechnics at the end of the scene from the stage; scene three: 'township'; scene four: 'ocean'; scene five: 'innovation'; scene six: 'protocol' - introduction of teams; scene seven: 'karnival' - pyrotechnics at the end of the scene from the roof of the North Stand.

At 10:30 pm the mass choir plays and the show winds up at 10:45 pm (South Africa time).

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SET closes with 6, DD-Nimbus 8 sponsors