Titans to play Perth Scorchers in Champions League Twenty20 Opener

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New Delhi, (ANI): South Africa’s reigning domestic T20 champions will take on Australia’s domestic T20 runners-up, in the opening ‘Group Stage’ game of the Champions League Twenty20 2012.

The Group Stage of the tournament will commence with a double-header at Centurion on 13 October 2012. Titans, the winners of the T20 Challenge in South Africa, will play the Perth Scorchers, runners-up in the Big Bash League. The game will be followed by one between Kolkata Knight Riders, the IPL 2012 champions, and Delhi Daredevils, who finished third in the same tournament.

The final of the Champions League Twenty20 2012 will be played on 28 October 2012, at the Wanderers, Johannesburg, an arena that has hosted some memorable cricket matches in the past, including the final of the ICC CWC 2003, the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 2007, the IPL2, CLT20 2010 and the unforgettable ‘438’ ODI between South Africa and Australia in 2006.

The fourth edition of the Champions League Twenty20 2012 will feature a total of 14 teams and 29 matches across four venues - Centurion, Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.

Newlands Stadium in Cape Town was recently voted by a panel of experts in the May edition of The Cricketer Magazine as the 2nd best cricket stadium in the world.

The Group Stage will be preceded by a Qualifying Stage from 9 October 2012 to 11 October 2012 featuring six teams. These teams have been equally divided into two pools, with each team playing the other two in its pool once. The top team in each pool, in terms of points, will then qualify for the Group Stage. If teams from the same pool are equal on points, the qualifier will be decided by net run rate. Pool 1 - ECB 1 (winners of the ECB’s domestic T20 championship), Sialkot Stallions (Pakistan) and Auckland Aces (New Zealand).

Pool 2 - ECB 2 (runners-up in the ECB’s domestic T20 championship), Trinidad and Tobago (West Indies) and the winners of Sri Lanka’s domestic T20 championship. The Group Stage will comprise 10 teams divided into two groups of five. Each side will play the other four in their group with the top two teams qualifying for the semi-finals.

Group A - Kolkata Knight Riders (India), Titans (South Africa), Perth Scorchers (Australia), Delhi Daredevils (India) and Qualifier 1.

Group B - Chennai Super Kings (India), Highveld Lions (South Africa), Sydney Sixers (Australia), Mumbai Indians (India) and Qualifier 2.

“We are delighted to announce the match-schedule of the Champions League Twenty20 2012. This is the second time the tournament will be played in South Africa, and we have no doubt that it will be as, if not more successful, than the 2010 edition. The tournament will feature the world’s top players, and we can be assured of some exceptional cricket,” N. Srinivasan, Chairman of the Champions League Twenty20 Governing Council, said. (ANI)