12 teams for Twenty20 Nationals

Chandigarh, May 10 (UNI) Twelve top teams from all over the country have staked their claims for the glittering Swift Cup in the inaugural National Super Zone Twenty20 Cricket Championship to be held at Panchkula, near here.

The championship will being held under the aegis of the Haryana State Twenty20 Cricket Association and the Indian Twenty20 Cricket Federation (ITCF) from May 23 to 28.

ITCF secretary general Piyush Rana and organising committee chairman I D Kamboj today said that a number of Ranji Trophy and national team players would be seen in action in the six-day crash bang format of cricket bonanza. The matches will be played on league-cum-knockout basis.

''We have received information from the West Bengal Twenty20 Cricket Association that its team would have four Ranji and two India A team players in the line-up. Similarly the other teams will have also top cricketers in their ranks,'' Mr Kamboj said.

Giving format of the competitions, Rana said that the teams had been divided into four groups and top team from each group would qualify for the semi-finals which would be played on May 27.

The pool A will consist of ITCF, Tripura and Chhattisgarh.

Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and hosts Haryana have been clubbed in Group B. Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Rajasthan have been placed in Group C. Uttar Pradesh, Mumbai and Uttranchal are in Group D.

Three matches will be conducted daily in the league phase and the inaugural match will be played between ITCF and Tripura. Other matches billed for the inaugural day are Punjab vs AP and Chhattisgarh vs Tripura.

Giving details of the steps taken to promote the twenty20 version, Rana said that the ITCF had chalked out a calendar of events to popularising the game at the grass root level.

UNI XC HS DH HS1549