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In terms of ambition, the Champions League T20 was to be the perfect tool to showcase, and popularise, franchise cricket. It was modelled on the UEFA Champions League, with clubs from cricketing nations teaming up for a short T20 event. But into its sixth edition, it hasn't delivered on the promise front. The <keyword id="6354312" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="IPL">IPL</keyword> in India is still the benchmark, and the involvement of international teams somehow fails to pique interest among fans who get behind their local franchises (a reason to include a fourth Indian team). From September 13, however, up until October 4, the disappointments of the England tour will be forgotten, and cricket's shortest format will once again drum up the entertainment before the home season in India gets under way. 
 
In many ways, the timeframe set apart for the Champions League is about perfect for a T20 competition. The IPL lasts two months; back-to-back games in the middle of the Indian summer making it an annual TV soap opera. The expectancy of home advantage is less; teams from South Africa, Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand make it a more global event, and the chance to see several international players, who could soon be seen being snapped up by several franchises in next year's IPL. The Champions League then is the IPL's poorer cousin, but the unpredictable nature of the competition could make it for interesting viewing. 
 
Chhattisgarh's Raipur International Cricket Stadium will host the six qualifiers featuring Lahore Lions (Pakistan), Mumbai Indians (India), Northern Knights (New Zealand) and Southern Express (Sri Lanka), before the main league kicks off with games scheduled in Hyderabad, Mohali and Bangalore. Gocricket.com takes a look at the teams making up the competition: 
 
Kolkata Knight Riders: The IPL champions gained direct entry into the league stages by virtue of their title triumph a few months ago, but have been hampered by injuries to Morne Morkel and <keyword id="258312" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Chris-Lynn">Chris Lynn</keyword>, who have been ruled out of the tournament, as was Shakib Al Hasan, serving a disciplinary sanction by the Bangladesh Cricket Board. The Indian domestic season was over before the IPL meaning several Indian players will be without practice, a situation that forced <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/yusuf-pathan/30001/4096">Yusuf Pathan</a>, <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/piyush-chawla/30001/4089">Piyush Chawla</a>, <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/manvinder-bisla/30001/27013">Manvinder Bisla</a> and <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/kuldeep-yadav/30001/4133">Kuldeep Yadav</a> to undergo a boot camp in South Africa. <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/gautam-gambhir/30001/4043">Gautam Gambhir</a>, the inspirational two-time IPL-winning captain, however, is back playing franchise cricket after a nightmarish return to the Indian team on the England tour. Gambhir would have to brush aside that traumatic experience to lead his troops. 
 
Perth Scorchers: Like KKR, Perth Scorchers triumphed at the Big Bash League, but like the Indian franchise, they too come into the tournament with a depleted squad. Simon Katich was their leading run-getter but is not available, nor is Shaun Marsh, who was injured. The franchise will rely heavily on <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/mitchell-marsh/1001/27022">Mitchell Marsh</a>, who is coming off a successful trip with the Australian team in Zimbabwe. 
 
Dolphins: Winners of South Africa's domestic T20 competition, Dolphins make their Champions League bow under former South Africa wicketkeeper-batsman Morne van Wyk, who has previously turned out for KKR. With <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/david-miller/8001/8076">David Miller</a> opting to play for Kings XI Punjab, the Dolphins squad will miss the services of their explosive batsman, but <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/kyle-abbott/8001/29036">Kyle Abbott</a>'s presence in the bowling line-up gives them some international quality. 
 
Barbados Tridents: The 2014 Caribbean Premier League champions will be without <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/dwayne-smith/26001/10043">Dwayne Smith</a>, Shoaib Malik and <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/kieron-pollard/31001/10060">Kieron Pollard</a> but still have enough quality to surprise bigger teams. Zimbabwe's hard-hitting ODI captain <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/elton-chigumbura/11001/11033">Elton Chigumbura</a>, James Franklin and <keyword id="1319274" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Dilshan-Munaweera">Dilshan Munaweera</keyword> will bolster the batting, while Ravi Rampaul will lead the bowling attack. 
 
Kings XI Punjab: KXIP turned out to be the surprise package of the IPL and despite falling short of a maiden title, turned heads with their all-round performances. Despite an injury to Sandeep Sharma, who was a revelation with the new ball, the KXIP line-up screams quality under the astute leadership of <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/george-bailey/29001/26015">George Bailey</a>. Add to that the explosive batting order comprising <keyword id="7567" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Virender-Sehwag">Virender Sehwag</keyword>, <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/glenn-maxwell/29001/36006">Glenn Maxwell</a>, David Miller and Thisara Perera. 
 
Hobart Hurricanes: Bailey's absence from the Hurricanes has given discarded Australian wicketkeeper-batsman <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/tim-paine/1001/1088">Tim Paine</a> a chance to step up. Former Pakistan captain <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/shoaib-malik/7001/7011">Shoaib Malik</a> will give the side important advice about playing on subcontinent surfaces, while Chennai Super Kings' pace bowling duo – Doug Bollinger and Ben Hilfenhaus – would know a thing or two about their former team. Aiden Blizzard and Ben Dunk add muscle to their batting order. 
 
Cape Cobras: After falling two runs short of the Ram Slam T20 title, Cape Cobras will be out to go one better at the Champions League with a team full of South Africa's top players. Justin Ontong has at his service the class of <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/hashim-amla/8001/8034">Hashim Amla</a>, <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/jp-duminy/8001/8053">JP Duminy</a> and Vernon Philander, and their most successful domestic spinner, Dane Piedt. Veterans Justin Kemp and Robin Peterson are sure to lift the team with their all-round skills. 
 
Chennai Super Kings: CSK are out to emulate Mumbai Indians by attempting a second title. Free from international duty, <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/ms-dhoni/26001/4057">MS Dhoni</a> will look to his franchise to give his much-criticised captaincy a boost. Their all-round T20 skill under the Indian captain makes them one of the most feared sides in the competition. 
 
Besides the sure-shot contenders, four teams will contest the qualifying stages with two of them set to go through: 
 
Mumbai Indians: The defending CLT20 champions had to endure a difficult IPL but emerged late to snatch fourth place to earn a shot at a title defence. For majority of the competition, MI suffered by failing to field the right combinations and captain Rohit Sharma's absence means fellow seniors like Kieron Pollard, <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/harbhajan-singh/31001/4008">Harbhajan Singh</a> and <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/lasith-malinga/31001/9036">Lasith Malinga</a> will have to step up. Star signing Corey Anderson's lack of form was a subject of great debate during the competition, but his game-changing 94 against Rajasthan Royals proved how dangerous the side could be with the big players firing. 
 
Lahore Lions: Pakistan's T20 champions had to endure a difficult passage into India with a visa delay, but on match day, their quality is set to leave an impact on the competition. The absence of Pakistani players from the IPL means the Lions will lend additional charm to the event, and the team is full of quality with six Pakistan internationals – <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/ahmed-shehzad/7001/7070">Ahmed Shehzad</a>, Umar Akmal, Nasir Jamshed, Aizaz Cheema, Wahab Riaz and captain Mohammad Hafeez. 
 
Nothern Knights: <keyword id="13837" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Daniel-Vettori">Daniel Vettori</keyword>'s withdrawal from the competition wouldn't affect the side that already boasts of <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/kane-williamson/6001/6071">Kane Williamson</a>, Trent Boult, Tim Southee, BJ Watling and Ish Sodhi, the fulcrum of the revival in New Zealand cricket. Scott Styris brings in years of experience, most importantly of having played in India on several occasions. 
 
Southern Express: Without Lasith Malinga and <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/tillakaratne-dilshan/9001/9034">Tillakaratne Dilshan</a>, the Sri Lankan side does look weak but expect them to fight tooth and nail. The familiarity with conditions in the subcontinent will make them a force to reckon with.

CLT20: Another Shot At Winning Over The IPL Faithful

To make the semi-finals of the 2014 <keyword id="56308" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Champions-League-Twenty20">Champions League Twenty20</keyword>, after huffing and puffing their way to 124 for 6, Lahore Lions needed to keep Perth Scorchers to 78 or less, and came close by having them at 62 for 7, but <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/mitchell-marsh//27022">Mitchell Marsh</a> and <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/brad-hogg//1118">Brad Hogg </a>denied them with a punchy partnership of 68. In what proved an engrossing low-scorer dominated by spin, and at a venue that has witnessed a few famous spin-induced collapses in Test cricket, Lions threatened to smother Scorchers by taking pace off the ball but ended up losing thanks to the combined efforts of a 22-year old expected to make his Test debut for Australia in a few weeks, and a 43-year-old who has found an extended lease of his athletic life thanks to T20.

	 
	Defending a poor total, which came from the poorer depths of 11 for 4 thanks to a solid half-century from their most consistent batsman of the tournament, <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/saad-nasim//7360">Saad Nasim</a>, Pakistan’s domestic T20 champions applied the squeeze but ran out of fire against Hogg and Marsh. The crucial hit came off the bat of Hogg, who lofted a full toss from Adnan Rasool over long-on to take Scorchers to 80 in the 14th over, thereby ending Lions’ campaign and ensuring <keyword id="13886" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Chennai-Super-Kings">Chennai Super Kings</keyword> would join <keyword id="6354467" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Kolkata-Knight-Riders">Kolkata Knight Riders</keyword> from Group A in the knock-outs.

	 
	Lions fought hard through their phalanx of slow bowlers on a spicy surface. Hafeez accounted for Craig Simmons (0) and Ashton Agar (5) in a tremendous effort of 4-0-8-2, not allowing the batsmen room to work with; Mustafa Iqbal bowled Cameron Bancroft (22) and had Ashton Turner spooning to mid-on; Nasim came on and with his second ball got Hilton Cartwright stumped with a ripping leg break. At 62 for 7, Scorchers were staring at defeat.

	 
	Enter Hogg, however, who smacked 16 off his first eight balls faced to leave Lions stunned. The blows came during the 14th over bowled by Rasool, with the 43-year-old Hogg going over extra cover, backward of point and into the sight screen. Three balls, 14 runs, all over for Lions. A brief celebration done, Hogg and Marsh got down to finishing off their chase. Marsh finished 63 from 38 balls, and Hogg collected 28 off 19.

	 
	The root cause of Lions’ exit was a shoddy batting performance, second to when they were bowled out for 98 against Northern Knights during the Qualifiers. Few teams recover from the loss of four wickets for 11 runs inside four overs, and then losing half their side by ten. <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/joel-paris//76013">Joel Paris</a> picked up two wickets either side of a surprise rain interruption in an opening over that spanned 45 minutes, and stand-in captain Marsh bounced out two wickets in as many overs to leave Lions hemorrhaging.

	 The match began with excitement, as Paris removed Nasir Jamshed third ball, flicking to the lone fielder in the deep on the legside. No sooner had the ball found its way into Hogg’s palms at deep square leg, rain slipped through the sunlight to send the teams off the field for almost 30 minutes. Three balls into the resumption, Paris went straight through Umar Siddiq’s wild heave - the opener came in for <keyword id="135589" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Ahmed-Shehzad">Ahmed Shehzad</keyword>, out with a sore throat - and finished the first over with two wickets for two runs. That became 3 for 2 when Marsh brought himself on and picked up Hafeez for 0, the Lions’ skipper chopping a short ball onto his stumps. Wahab Riaz sauntered in at No 5 ahead of Umar Akmal, Lions’ match-winner with the bat from their last game, but he lasted four balls before finding long-on off Marsh, for 0. Akmal (28) added 48 with Nasim, who found an ally in Mohammad Saeed to double the score from 54 for 5, but ultimately Lions did not have enough runs to script a famous win.

	 
	Brief scores: Perth Scorchers 130 for 7 in 19 overs (<keyword id="101031" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Mitchell-Marsh">Mitchell Marsh</keyword> 69*, <keyword id="10143" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Brad-Hogg">Brad Hogg</keyword> 28*) beat Lahore Lions 124 for 6 in 20 overs (Saad Nasim 69*, Joel Paris 3/22) by three wickets

Scorchers Down Lions, CSK Progress

In an encounter billed as India vs Pakistan, <keyword id="6354467" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Kolkata-Knight-Riders">Kolkata Knight Riders</keyword> edged clumsy Lahore Lions by four wickets in the Champions League <keyword id="18238" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="T20">T20</keyword> at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday. After all-sorts <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/sunil-narine/30001/56004">Sunil Narine</a> (3 for 9) helped the <keyword id="6354312" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="IPL">IPL</keyword> champions restrict Lions to 151 for 7, <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/robin-uthappa/30001/4093">Robin Uthappa</a> and captain <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/gautam-gambhir/30001/4043">Gautam Gambhir</a> added 100 for the opening wicket to douse any remote hopes Lions might have had. 
 
Click here for <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/live-score/kkr-vs-lio/krll09212014176560/fullscorecard">full scorecard</a> and <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/live-score/kkr-vs-lio/krll09212014176560/commentary">commentary</a>. 
 Uthappa (46), Gambhir (60), Manvinder Bisla (6), <keyword id="18938" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Yusuf-Pathan">Yusuf Pathan</keyword> (11) , Ryan ten Doeschate (12) and Andre Russell (1) departed in quick succession to light up the Pakistani faces but the wickets came too late in the day as Suryakumar Yadav (14*) kept his cool to see the team home with three balls to go. 
 
The team from across the border had a cloddish outing. First they were at least 20 short of what they should have scored and then a poor performance in the field made matters worse. A golden opportunity had presented itself for Lions in the sixth over when Aizaz Cheema, with a short-pitched delivery, had Uthappa lob an easy catch but Asif Raza dropped it running to his left from short fine-leg. Saad Nasim and Nasir Jamshed also brought their butter fingers into view. Had these opportunities were taken, the result could have been different. 
 
However, the man who actually made the difference for KKR was Narine whose second spell that saw him take back-to-back wickets restricted Lions to a modest total. Left-arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav also impressed on debut foxing the opposition batsmen throughout his spell (4-0-21-1). 
 
Lions got off to a good start, thanks largely to <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/ahmed-shehzad/7001/7070">Ahmed Shehzad </a>who added 50 runs with Jamshed for the opening wicket. Shehzad was benefited by poor wicketkeeping from Bisla who missed two easy stumping chances when the batsman was on 19 and 32 respectively. Narine also dropped Shehzad on 37 at short fine leg off the bowling of left-arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav. Shehzad went on to score 59. 
 
The opening stand was broken by a brilliant throw from Russell who ran in from deep midwicket to throw the stumps down at the non-striker's end to send back Jamshed for 10. Captain Mohammad Hafeez and Shehzad departed in quick succession leaving the Pakistanis at 91 for 3 and Gambhir brought back Narine who put the batsmen under a spell straight away. He sent back Nasim (0) first and then in his next over accounted for Umar Siddiq (2) and Raza (1). 
 
Things could have been disastrous for Hafeez's men if it weren't for <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/umar-akmal/7001/7074">Umar Akmal</a> who got some big shots towards the end, making 40 off 24 balls that included two fours and six off Piyush Chawla in an over. Akmal got out off the last ball of the innings. 
 KKR, who won their first match against Chennai Super Kings, made two changes to their team, bringing in Uthappa in place of <keyword id="66306" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Manish-Pandey">Manish Pandey</keyword> and Kuldeep for Umesh Yadav. Lions also made one change, giving a game to <keyword id="2528483" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Mustafa-Iqbal">Mustafa Iqbal</keyword> in place of medium pacer Imran Ali. 
 
Brief scores: Lahore Lions 151 for 7 (Shehzad 59; Narine 3 for 9) lose to <keyword id="6354925" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Kolkata">Kolkata</keyword> Knight Riders 153 for 6 in 19.3 overs (Gambhir 60; Cheema 2 for 42) by four wickets

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CLT20: Another Shot At Winning Over The IPL Faithful

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Scorchers Down Lions, CSK Progress

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T20 Cricket : KKR Overcome Late Wickets To Beat Lions

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