Champions League T20 format and schedule announced

13 teams in the 2011 edition of CLT20

A short while ago, the format and the match schedule of the Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) was announced in a media relaease. The CLT20-2011 will be organised in India with matches in Chennai, Bengaluru and Kolkata and the qualifying event in Hyderabad. The main tournament will start from 23 September and end on 9 October. The Qualifier is scheduled from 19-21 September. This edition will see a record 13 teams participating in the event.

Seven teams out of these 13 are already qualified. These teams are South Australian Redbacks, NSW Blues (Australia), Warriors, Cape Cobras (South Africa), Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians (India). The rest 6 teams will play the qualifier which will be held in Hyderabad. This qualifier will decide the final 3 teams which will participate in the main tournament. The six teams will be divided into two pools and the top team from each pool qualifies for the group stage, with the third team to be the next highest ranked team based on points and then net run rate. The group stage of the tournament follows the same format as 2010. The 10 teams have been divided into two groups for a round robin league phase with the top two teams from each group progressing to the Semi Finals.

The six teams those will battle first in the qualifiers are: Kolkata Knight Riders (India), Trinidad and Tobago (West Indies), Auckland Aces (New Zealand), Sri Lanka (to be decided), England 1, England 2 (to be decided). The two T20 teams from the England and one from Sri Lanka will be chosen from their T20 leagues.

The tournament starts in Bengaluru on 23rd September with a Group B match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Warriors at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. This will be the second time when Chinnaswamy will host the opening match of the CLT20. It is also noteworthy that RCB is the only team which has qualified for all the 3 seasons of CLT20. The management has taken care of the time factor for the teams qualifying from the qualifier who find it difficult to get ready for tougher battle. So teams that emerge from the Qualifier won’t start their group stage matches until 25 September giving them some time to regroup and prepare for their campaign.

GROUPS

Group A – Chennai Super Kings, Cape Cobras, NSW Blues, Mumbai Indians, 1st Pool B Qualifier

Group B – Royal Challengers Bangalore, Warriors, South Australian Redbacks, 1st Pool A Qualifier, Next Highest Ranked Qualifier

Venues:

Qualifier: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad

Main Tournament:

1. Group Stage: