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Bangalore, Sep 23: The pre-tournament favourites Royal Challengers Bangalore will lock horns with last years runners up, South African Warriors in the inaugural match of the 3rd edition of the Champions League T20 in front of their adoring home crowd on Friday, September 23 at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.

The qualification process for the main draw of the Champions League has been done and dusted. Trinidad and Tobago made light of the losses of Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard while proving to the tournament organizers that they did not deserve to be playing in the qualifiers to make it to the main round. The severely depleted Somerset team did not show an ounce of nervousness, making it to the main draw with ease while the Kolkata Knight Riders got through, much to the relief of their owners, after a great struggle. There was heartbreak for the Ruhunu Eleven, who came very close to being in the main draw, Auckland Aces had their moments but lacked the finishing touches while Leicestershire Foxes fell against spin.

So here we are with the final 10 teams across five nations as they battle it out to decide the best T20 team. After a glitzy opening ceremony on Thursday, it is back to action as the hosts and one of the pre-tournament favourites Bangalore will lock horns with last years runners up, Warriors in the inaugural match of the 3rd edition of the Champions League T20 in front of their adoring home crowd.

Bangalore: The IPL runners-up have a mix of world class talent to go with some of the best home grown talent as they look to shed the tag of chokers. They have made it to the finals of 2 IPL championships and were knocked out in the semis once. They were also the losing semi-finalists of last year's CL T20. For a team brimming with outstanding talent, they would like to have some silverware to show for their efforts.

Bangalore had a difficult start to their IPL 2011 season losing 3 of their first 4 games to languish in the bottom half of the table. Their change of fortunes coincided with the arrival of a certain Chris Gayle as a replacement for the injured Dirk Nannes. Chris Gayle was stunningly left unsold in the preceding auctions and left the rest of the teams dazed with some maniac performances to help Bangalore reach the finals. Bangalore's batting does not stop with Gayle though. In Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Saurabh Tiwari, they boast of one of the most solid looking middle order. Captain Daniel Vettori lends strength to the later middle order which will mean that Mohammad Kaif and Asad Pathan will fight it out for one slot.

Pace spearhead, Zaheer Khan will miss the tournament after undergoing a surgery which kept him of the England tour. Bangalore though will welcome back Aussie speedster, Dirk Nannes to lead the pace bowling attack which also includes the impressive duo of Sreenath Arvind and Abhimanyu Mithun. With Vettori as the leading spinner, Bangalore seems to have covered all bases going into the high profile tournament.

Warriors: Entering the tournament as the finalists of the Standard Bank Pro T20 competition, Warriors will silently fancy their chances of upstaging Bangalore like Cape Cobras did in the inaugural edition of the tournament. They have taken the loss of their regular opener, Davy Jacobs into their stride. Jacobs will play for the Mumbai Indians in this year's tournament. In Ashwell Prince and Colin Ingram, they have a sprinkling of international flavour in their batting. The batting will mainly revolve along the Smut brothers, Jon and Kelly. Kelly made a fine impression on debut scoring an unbeaten 56 off just 32 balls against Cape Cobras in the finals of their domestic T20 tournament. Justin Kreusch was one of the best all-round performers in the Pro T20 series. Throw in the experience of the former RCB man, Mark Boucher, they have a solid looking batting unit.

It is the bowling unit of the Warriors team that will surely keep their opponents on the tenterhooks. The pace bowling department has a barrage of unbelievable riches. Take your pick amongst Makhaya Ntini, Juan Rusty Theron, Wayne Parnell and Lonwabo Tsotsobe. Add Johan Botha and Nicky Boje, the bowling line up looks nothing short of world class. If Bangalore has the better batting resources, it is a no question as to who has the better bowlers.

Team news: Bangalore has 5 quality imports in their line up. The selection of Gayle is a no-brainer. Vettori slots in as the captain and the lead spinner. The absence of Zaheer and with no reserve keeper in the line-up, it will mean that Dilshan will have to warm the benches. Syed Jamaluddin did well in the opportunities at the IPL and might play if Bangalore decides to go in with 5 regular bowlers.

Warriors will have a tough decision on whom to leave out amongst their pace bowlers. The experience of Ntini and the death over skills of Theron might mean that Parnell and Tsotsobe might have to fight it out for one slot.

Captain's Speak:

I think we'll probably look at bowling five specialist bowlers — (Dirk) Nannes and I can spearhead the attack – Daniel Vettori hints on playing 5 bowlers.

Obviously the Indian teams will have the advantage of playing at home and for us it is all about adapting to conditions as quickly as possible – Botha wants his team to adapt quickly.
Final Word: The qualification round saw some see-saw battles and it will not be a surprise if the same trend continues in the main draw as well.

Teams:

Royal Challengers Bangalore (From): Daniel Vettori(c), Sreenath Aravind, Mayank Agarwal, Abhimanyu Mithun, AB de Villiers(w), Arun Karthik, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chris Gayle, Mohammad Kaif, Virat Kohli, Dirk Nannes, Asad Pathan, Saurabh Tiwary, Syed Mohammad Jamaluddin

Warriors (From): Johan Botha(c), Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Mark Boucher(w), Craig Thyssen, Juan Theron, Kelly Smuts, JJ Smuts, Ashwell Prince, Wayne Parnell, Makhaya Ntini, Lyall Meyer, Justin Kreusch, Colin Ingram, Nicky Boje, Andrew Birch

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