Sri Lanka will be looking for the elusive test match and series win when they tour India for a Three Test, five ODI and Two T20 match series from November to December 2009. The team arrive in India on November 8th for the 55-day tour.
The competition was launched in 2008 as a response to the success of national Twenty20 domestic cricket leagues, most notably the Indian Premier League. The first edition was set to take place from late September to early October 2008 in India, after the tournament organisers resolved various teething problems that had put the inaugural tournament under some doubt, but it was later announced that the tournament would be held from December 3 to December 10, 2008. The tournament was postponed again following terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November 2008 and later cancelled, with the first tournament now scheduled for October 2009. Indian mobile service Bharti Airtel has bought the title sponsorship rights of the champions league for the reported amount of rupees 170 crores.
The 2009 Champions League will be contested by 12 teams. It will start with a round robin format, with 4 pools of 3 teams. The top 2 teams from each pool will advance to a league stage, consisting of two pools of four teams. The top two from each league will progress to a knock-out competition of two rounds.
A total 19 matches will be played in India from October 8-23. Teams that have qualified for the 2009 Twenty20 Champions League are listed below.
Champions League Twenty20 2009 Finals and Semi-Finals
CLT20 2009 Finals: New South Wales (NSW Blues) crowned inaugural Champions League winners
Oct 23, 2009
Australian Brett Lee's quickfire innings of 48 (31 balls, 1x4, 5x6s) and two wickets for 10 runs helped New South Wales beat crowd favourite Trinidad and Tobago by 41 runs and win the inaugural Airtel-Champions League Twenty20 cricket tournament in India. Lee, who came to the crease at 83 for six in the 12th over, changed the course of the NSW innings with a 49-run stand with Steve Smith who hit 33 (26 balls, 2x4s, 1x6). Lee was dismissed off the final delivery of the innings. For his efforts, Brett Lee was named Player-of-the-Final and Man-of-the-Series.
As Trinidad and Tobago started chasing 160, Lee had William Perkins clean bowled for a second-ball duck, and then took a stunning return catch to get rid of Lendl Simmons. The Caribbean team needed 47 from the last five overs, but NSW bowlers struck blows in quick succession to dismiss them for 118 in 15.5 overs.
New South Wales 159/9 (Lee 48, Rampaul 3-20) beat Trinidad & Tobago 118 (Clark 3-21, Lee 2-10) by 41 runs
Paceman Brett Lee, all-rounder Moises Henriques and opening batsman Phil Hughes joined their NSW Blues team-mate David Warner in the Champions League All-Star XI team. The NSW Blues outplayed domestic rivals Victoria Bushrangers in the semi-final and Trinidad and Tobago in the finals on Friday. The Caribbean side has three players in the list - big hitting Kieron Pollard, wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin and all-rounder Dwayne Bravo.
The CLT20 All Star XI is a team chosen by ESPN Star Sports commentators based on the Group and League stages of the tournament.
The full CLT20 All-Star XI: Phil Hughes (NSW Blues), David Warner (NSW Blues), JP Duminy (Cape Cobras), Ross Taylor (RC Bangalore), Jacques Kallis (RC Bangalore), Keiron Pollard (Trinidad & Tobago), Denesh Ramdin (Trinidad & Tobago) wk, Dwayne Bravo (Trinidad & Tobago), Moises Henriques (NSW Blues), Brett Lee (NSW Blues) and Clint McKay (Victoria Bushrangers).
CLT20 2009 Second Semi: Cape Cobras v Trinidad & Tobago at Hyderabad
Oct 22, 2009
Trinidad & Tobago 178/3 (Bravo 58*, Ganga 44*) beat Cape Cobras 175/5 (Duminy 61*, Gibbs 42) by seven wickets
CLT20 2009 First Semi: NSW v Victoria at Delhi
Oct 21, 2009
New South Wales 169/7 (Warner 48, McKay 3-27) beat Victoria 90/9 (Henriques 3-11) by 79 runs
The 2008 Champions League Twenty20 is the first edition of the international club cricket tournament. It is due to be held in India or the Middle East in October 2008. The winners will earn around $5m. The tournament is expected to last ten days and consist of fifteen matches.
Champions League Twenty20 2008 Schedule postponed scrapped
The inaugural edition of the Champions League Twenty20 scheduled to be played from December 3 to 10 has been postponed.
The decision was taken by the Governing Council of the Champions League Twenty20 (CL T20) after consultations among the three founding board members of the tournament - Board of Control for Cricket in India, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa.
Lalit Modi, Chairman of the Champions League Twenty20, said, "We held consultations among all the stakeholders including the founding members, the participating teams and members of the Governing Council after the unfortunate terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
"It was agreed that in the best interests of all concerned, the inaugural edition of the Champions League 2020 should be postponed."
The 2009 ICC World Twenty20 is a Twenty20 cricket tournament scheduled to take place in England in June of 2009. It will be the second World Twenty20 and will consist of 12 teams, contested by all Test-playing nations plus qualifiers (Ireland, Netherlands and Scotland)
The Champions Twenty20 League, formed with the official sanction of ICC will kick off in October 2008. Eight domestic teams from four nations will participate. Cricket Australia will partner the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket South Africa (CSA). The champion team in the Champions Twenty20 league will get US $5 million, which is the highest ever prize money for a cricket event.
Australia
West Indies
South Africa
England
India
New Zealand
Sri Lanka
Tri & Tob
Wayamba
