2010 Champions League T20

The 2010 Champions League Twenty20 will see two groups of five teams each competing in a round-robin format, with the top two sides from each group going through to the semi finals.

The set-up is a departure from the 2009 edition, which had four groups of three teams, with the two teams from each group advancing to another league stage which determined the semi-finalists. Despite the change, the tournament features the same number of matches - 23 - as last year. The matches have been evenly distributed across four venues, with each stadium hosting at least five games.

The Mumbai Indians open the event on September 10th against the South African side Lions at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, which also hosts the final on September 26. Mumbai and Lions are part of Group B, along with South Australia, Royal Challengers Bangalore and a team from the West Indies that will be determined in late July.

The teams drawn in Group A are the 2010 IPL champions Chennai Super Kings, Australia's Big Bash champions Victoria, South Africa's Pro Series champions Warriors, which is a combination of the Eastern Province and Border first-class teams, as well as Sri Lanka's Wayamba, which represents the North Western Province, and New Zealand's Central Districts.

2010 Airtel Champions League Twenty20 Competing Teams

Chennai Super Kings (DLF Indian Premier League – India)

Mumbai Indians (DLF Indian Premier League – India)

Royal Challengers Bangalore (DLF Indian Premier League – India)

Victorian Bushrangers (KFC Twenty20 Big Bash – Australia)

South Australian Redbacks (KFC Twenty20 Big Bash – Australia)

Warriors (Standard Bank Pro 20 Series – South Africa)

Highveld Lions (Standard Bank Pro 20 Series – South Africa)

Central Stags (HRV Cup Twenty20 – New Zealand)

Wayamba Elevens (Inter-Provincial Twenty20 Cup – Sri Lanka)

TBC (West Indies Domestic Twenty20 Champions)

Monsoon to be normal this year : Weather office

The monsoon will be normal this year and will pick up in August and September, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said Friday.

'The monsoon season (June to September) rainfall for the country as a whole is likely to be within the normal limits as predicted by the weather office earlier. The monsoon in June and July has been 95 percent,' IMD director general A.K. Tyagi told reporters here.

Rainfall over the country for the second half (August to September) of the 2010 southwest monsoon season is likely to be normal. The rainfall is expected to be 107 percent of the average during the second phase.

According to the weather office, the season's rainfall over the three geographical regions (Northwest India, Central India and South Peninsula) is also likely to be within the normal limits. However, the season's rainfall over Northeast India is likely to be below normal.

'There has been no depression over the Bay of Bengal in the first two months of monsoon, which is an anomalous feature reported this time. This has led to scanty rainfall in northeast country. Rainfall is likely to be deficit in West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand,' said Tyagi.

The monsoon was delayed this year by a week and reached Kerala by the end of May.