CLT20 qualifying round begins Monday
September 18th, 2011 - 9:46 pm ICT by IANS
Hyderabad, Sep 18 (IANS) The qualifying round of Champions League Twenty20 is beginning at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here Monday.
Ruhunu Eleven of Sri Lanka will take on the Caribbean’s Trinidad and Tobago in the first qualifier while the second game will be played between India’s Kolkata Knight Riders and New Zealand’s Auckland Aces.
England’s Leicestershire and Somerset are the other two teams in the CLT20 qualifiers for three spots in the main tournament, beginning in Bangalore Sep 23.
Ruhunu skipper Mahela Udawatta told reporters Sunday that they were hopeful of a good start from the batsmen led by Sanath Janasuriya.
“Jayasuriya is a great player with a vast experience. We are lucky to have him in our side,” he said.
Ruhunu is facing a determined Trinidad and Tobago led by Darren Ganga. “We will play as a national team and hope to have a great start,” he said.
Ganga said they would try to improve on their performance in 2009, when they had reached the semi-finals.
Jacques Kallis will lead Kolkata Knight Riders in their opening tie against Kiwi side in the absence of Gautam Gambhir, who has been ruled out of the qualifiers due to injury he suffered during the England-India Test series.
With quality players like Eoin Morgan, Brett Lee, Yusuf Pathan, Manoj Tiwary and Laxmipathy Balaji, KKR has an edge over Auckland Aces.
Captain Gareth Hopkins, Martin Guptill, Chris Martin, Daryl Tuffey and Kyle Mills are among some key international players in the Kiwi side.
Thirteen teams will compete in the tournament, which will be played in Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata.
- Final squads of 11 teams for Champions League named - Aug 22, 2011
- Leicestershire, Somerset complete Champions League line-up - Aug 28, 2011
- Ruhunu beats Leicestershire by four runs in CL T20 - Sep 21, 2011
- SRK named face of Nokia Champions League T20 - Sep 09, 2011
- Somerset beat Knight Riders, both teams qualify for CLT20 - Sep 22, 2011
- T&T; aims to qualify for main stage of CL T20 - Sep 14, 2011
- Champions League T20 to have 13 teams, qualifying stage - Jun 20, 2011
- We believe in our ability, says Darren Ganga - Sep 21, 2011
- Poor turnout marks CLT20 qualifying matches - Sep 20, 2011
- T&T; outclass Leicester to qualify for main CL T20 stage - Sep 20, 2011
- T&T; beat Ruhunu by five wickets in CL T20 qualifier - Sep 19, 2011
- Spinners did trick for us: Darren Ganga - Sep 19, 2011
- CL T20 qualifier: T&T; to bat against Leicestershire - Sep 20, 2011
- It was a great win: Kallis - Sep 20, 2011
- CL T20 qualifier: KKR to bat against Auckland Aces - Sep 19, 2011
Tags: brett lee, chris martin, daryl tuffey, england india, gambhir, ganga, guptill, jacques kallis, jayasuriya, kkr, knight riders, kolkata, kyle mills, laxmipathy balaji, manoj tiwary, quality players, rajiv gandhi international stadium, second game, trinidad and tobago, yusuf pathan