CLT20, 2011- Champions League Preview
Champions League Preview
The third edition of the Champions League T20 will be played this year from September 23 onwards. The tournament will reach its crescendo on October 9 with the final.
The CLT20 this year will have a total of 13 teams fight for the ultimate glory, the most it has ever had in its three years. However, out of the 13 sides, there will be seven who will be given a direct entry into the main round of the competition, while the remaining six will feature in the qualifiers. The qualifiers will be held on September 19, 20 and 21.
Both, the winners of the first and the second edition of the CLT20, New South Wales and Chennai Super Kings will be there in the main draw of the tournament, and should go into the tournament as favourites.
The six qualifiers are Kolkata Knight Riders from the IPL, Auckland Aces from New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago from the West Indies and three other teams from England (2) and Sri Lanka.
In the main draw of the CLT20, the ten teams (seven plus the three qualifiers) will be divided into two groups of five teams each. The first group has Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, New South Wales Blues, Cape Cobras and a fifth team as a qualifier.
On the other hand, the second group will have the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Warriors, Southern Redbacks and two teams from the qualifier going through.
The five teams in each group will play four games each and the winner and the runner-up from each group will then move on to the semi-finals. The semi-finals will be played on October 7 and 8, and the final will then be played on October 9. The first semi-final will be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore while the second semi-final and the final will be played at M Chidambaram in Chennai.
This is the third edition of the Champions League T20. Chennai have won the IPL twice in a row and were also the winners of the Champions League T20 last season. In the first edition of the Champions League T20, Chennai had failed to qualify for the tournament, and India was represented by Bangalore, Delhi and Deccan Chargers, who had won the 2009 IPL. However, none of the sides had managed to get to the semi-finals. The Australian team, New South Wales Blues had won the first edition of the tournament.
About the Author
Suneer writes on various subjects from the world of Cricket and shows special interest in topics pertaining to Cricket Stock Exchange, T20 Champions League and CLT20 Fantasy Cricket Challenge. He has over 10 years of experience and now writes exclusive articles for cricket.challengeexchange.com
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