'Airtel Champions League Twenty20' schedule announced

The Airtel CLT20, the grand finale of Twenty20 cricket between the world's champion teams, will start on Friday 10 September with a Group B clash between Sachin Tendulkar's Mumbai Indians and Alviro Petersen's Highveld Lions at Wanderers in Johannesburg.

All matches throughout the tournament will be broadcast in prime time in India starting at 5pm or 9pm IST. Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore will fight it out in Group B, while Chennai Super Kings have been drawn in Group A alongside the Twenty20 champions from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

Wanderers, which has hosted some of cricket biggest matches including the 2003 ICC World Cup Final, 2007 ICC World Twenty20 Final and the 2009 IPL Final, will add another chapter to its storied history in September as teams from around the world battle to be crowned the best of the best.

Durban and Centurion have been awarded the Semi Finals on 24 and 25 September respectively, with the Final to be played at Wanderers on Sunday 26 September.

The 10 competing teams have been divided into two groups of five for a round robin phase before the top two teams from each group progress to the semi finals. Matches throughout the tournament have been evenly distributed across the four venues with each hosting at least five fixtures, including the finals.

Mumbai and the Highveld Lions have been drawn in Group B alongside South Australia's Redbacks, Royal Challengers Bangalore and West Indies' representative which will be determined in late-July.

Group A includes MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings (2010 IPL Champions), Australia's Twenty20 Big Bash Champions Victoria, along with the Warriors (South Africa's Pro Series Champions), Wayamba (Sri Lanka) and Central Stags (New Zealand).

Play in Group A starts on Saturday 11 September in Port Elizabeth with virtual international-strength clashes between the Warriors and Wayamba in the early match, and Chennai Super Kings and Central Stags in the late fixture in Durban.

Centurion gets its first taste of Airtel CLT20 action the following day with a blockbuster Group B double-header between the Highveld Lions and South Australia, and Royal Challengers Bangalore and the qualified team from the West Indies.

Shashank Manohar, Airtel CLT20 Chairman, said, "With 100 international stars qualified to participate through one ' or more ' of their Twenty20 teams, fans will be treated to daily battle between the world's best cricketers."

"Fans attending any of the matches throughout the tournament will be entertained by the highest quality Twenty20 cricket featuring South Africa's home grown heroes and world cricket's biggest and brightest stars."

A number of players have qualified to play for two or more teams, including Jacques Kallis (Warriors*, Royal Challengers Bangalore), Mark Boucher (Warriors*, Royal Challengers Bangalore), Makhaya Ntini (Warriors*, Chennai Super Kings), Kieron Pollard (South Australian Redbacks, Mumbai Indian), Dwayne Bravo (Victorian Bushrangers, Mumbai Indian) and Cameron White (Victorian Bushrangers*, Royal Challengers Bangalore).

New Zealand's Ross Taylor has become the first player in CLT20's short history to qualify for three teams, with his home team, Central Stags, and "away' teams Victorian Bushrangers and Royal Challengers Bangalore qualifying for the event.

If Trinidad & Tobago emerge as Champions of the West Indies Cricket Board's domestic Twenty20 competition, Pollard and Bravo will also join Taylor with three options for the tournament.

As was the case in 2009, if a player is selected to play for an "away' team rather than his "home' team (the team from the country he is eligible to represent in international cricket), the "away' team must pay US$200,000 compensation to the "home' team.

"Away' teams are not eligible for compensation if a player chooses to play for his "home' team.