Fourth IPL team gets direct entry to CL T20

The Champions League 2012 will be held between October 9 and 28 this year in South Africa and will be preceded by a six-team qualifying stage, as was held last year. However, unlike last year, the fourth IPL team has got direct entry to the main tournament. The six teams to play in the qualifying stage this year are Pakistan's Sialkot Stallions, New Zealand's Auckland Aces, Trinidad and Tobago from West Indies, one team from Sri Lanka's SLPL and two from England.

The top two teams from the qualifiers will join eight others in the main round, according to a tweet by Sundar Raman, a member of the CLT20 technical committee.

The eight sides gaining direct entry to the main round of the CLT20 are the top four IPL teams (Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils), Sydney Sixers and Perth Scorchers (from Australia's Big Bash League) and Titans and Lions (South Africa).

Cape Town, Johannesburg, Centurion and Durban have been named as venues for the tournament.