Bangalore to host CLT20 final : Groups & Schedule

Mohali, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Raipur will host the sixth edition of the Champions League Twenty20, to be played from September 13 to October 4. Kolkata Knight Riders, the IPL winners, will face 2010 CLT20 champions Chennai Super Kings on September 17 at Hyderabad in the main draw opener. The qualifiers will be played at Raipur from September 13 to 16.

The tournament has retained its last year's format with 12 teams vying for a total prize money of $6 million, according to a CLT20 media release. Barring the team from West Indies, the winner of the ongoing Caribbean Premier League, the remaining 11 teams have been confirmed. The tournament will see four teams from India, two each from Australia and South Africa and one each from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies and New Zealand.

Lahore Lions, Northern Districts and South Express, the domestic T20 champions from Pakistan, New Zealand and Sri Lanka respectively, along with IPL's fourth-placed team Mumbai Indians, will face each other in the qualifying stage. The top two teams from the stage will progress to the main draw, which will be divided into two groups of five each.

Mumbai Indians, if they qualify, will move to Group B. The schedule makes it evident that the organisers would prefer four IPL teams to be divided equally in the main draw. While Knight Riders and Super Kings are placed in Group A, Kings XI Punjab, who will be making their their CLT20 debut, are in Group B.

Of the 29 games to be played in the three weeks in September, Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur, the home of Chhattisgarh cricket, will stage eight matches, including all six qualifying games. This will be another opportunity for the Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh, which hosted two IPL games in 2013, to make a case for being granted with the full-member status of the BCCI.

Teams in the Qualifying stage:
Q1 Lahore Lions
Q2 Mumbai Indians
Q3 Northern Knights
Q4 Southern Express

Teams in Group A
Kolkata Knight Riders
Dolphins
Perth Scorchers
Chennai Super Kings
A team from the Qualifier

Teams in Group B
Kings XI Punjab
Cape Cobras
Hobart Hurricanes
Champion side from the West Indies
A team from the Qualifier

Note:

• Q1/Q3 will enter Group A if either of them makes it to the Group Stage.
• Q2/Q4 will enter Group B if either of them makes it to the Group Stage.
• If Q1 and Q3 both make it to the Group Stage, then Q1 will enter Group A and Q3 will enter Group B. If Q2 and Q4 both make it to the Group Stage, then Q2 will enter Group B and Q4 will enter Group A.
• If Mumbai Indians qualify, they will be Q2 in the main league and other team will be Q1
• If only one IPL team qualifies for semifinal then the team will play the 8 pm game
• If two IPL teams play in one semifinal then they will play the 8 pm game
• If three IPL teams reach the semifinals then the semi with two IPL teams will be the 8 pm game.

Schedule: