IANS

Mumbai, Jul 31: The Champions League Twenty20 cricket will kick off in Bangalore Oct 8 with the Royal Challengers Bangalore taking on the Cape Cobras of South Africa at the N. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The inaugural edition of the tournament will have 23 matches spread over 16 days and played across three venues -- Bangalore, Hyderabad and Delhi.

Twelve teams have been divide into four groups and the initial league matches will be played from Oct 8 to Oct 14, according to the fixture of the tournament released Thursday.

Two teams from each group will qualify for the second league phase where eight teams will be clubbed into two new groups. They will compete in another consolidated round robin phase, with the top four teams progressing to the semi-finals.

The semi finals will be played Oct 21 in Delhi and Oct 22 in Hyderabad respectively. The grand final will be held at Hyderabad Oct 23.

"The Champions League Twenty20 is the perfect tournament to crown the best-of-the-best in domestic Twenty20 cricket worldwide and will capture the imagination of the sporting public around the world," Lalit Modi, chairman, Champions League Twenty20 said Thursday.

Ten teams have been selected for the tournament that will have $6 million as prize money. Two teams from England will be selected after the completion of its domestic Twenty20 competition.

The event was cancelled last year because of the Mumbai terror attacks.

Groupings--

Group A --Deccan Chargers (India), ECB 2 (England), Trinidad and Tobago (West Indies)

Group B -- New South Wales Blues (Australia), Diamond Eagles (South Africa), ECB 1 (England)

Group C -- Bangalore Royal Challengers (India), Cape Cobras (South Africa), Otago Volts (New Zealand)

Group D -- Delhi daredevils (India), Victorian Bushrangers (Australia), Wayamba (Sri Lanka)