CLT20 from Sep 13 to Oct 4

The sixth edition of the Champions League Twenty20 will be held from Sep 13 to Oct 4 across venues in India with the final to be hosted in Bangalore's M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, which also hosted this year's Indian Premier League (IPL) final.

The tournament will follow a format similar to the three previous editions with the group stages, which will feature 10 teams, preceded by the qualifiers with a total of 29 matches.

Reigning IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will take on 2010 CLT20 champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the first group match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad Sep 17.

KKR and CSK apart, Group A will comprise Dolphins (South Africa), Perth Scorchers (Australia) and a team from the qualifiers.

Group B will feature Hobart Hurricanes (Australia), the winner of the domestic T20 competition in the West Indies, Kings XI Punjab, Cape Cobras (South Africa) and a qualifier.

Each side will play the other four in its group once with the top-2 from each group going through to the semi-finals.

"The group stage matches will be played at Mohali, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Raipur. The qualifiers in Raipur. The CLT20 Governing Council confirmed the teams will compete for a total prize money of $6 million," Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Sanjay Patel said.

The qualifiers (Sep 13-16) will feature Mumbai Indians, Northern Knights (New Zealand), Southern Express (Sri Lanka) and Lahore Lions (Pakistan). All teams will play each other once with the top-2 advancing to the group stages.

The top team from Group A will play the second-ranked team from Group B and vice-versa in the semi-finals, both of which will be played at Hyderabad Oct 2 while the final will be played in Bangalore Oct 4.