The Sydney Sixers thrashed the Highveld Lions by 10 wickets in a one-sided Final of the Champions League Twenty 20 to be crowned the new, Champions. The Australian outfit dominated the contest with both bat and ball, knocking over the Lions for 121 and then chasing down the target in just 12.3 overs without losing any wickets. A battling half-century from Jean Symes gave the Lions' bowlers something to compete with after the South African side's top order had collapsed to a poor 9-4 in 3.3 overs. Josh Hazzlwood and Nathan McCullum shared 6 wickets evenly between them, while Michael Lumb stared with the bat for the Sixers, smashing an unbeaten 82 from just 42 balls, hitting 5 sixes and 8 boundaries to seal what was an easy win.

The Sydney Sixers won the toss and opted to bowl first, and surprised their opponents by opening with spin at both ends. Nathan McCullum was hit for a six by Gulam Bodi on the third ball of the first over, but got his man on the very next ball to put the Lions in early strife. McCullum was immediately replaced by Josh Hazzlewood, and it proved to be a masterstroke from Sydney skipper Brad Haddin with the fast bowler striking twice in his opening over to remove Quinton de Kock and Neil McKenzie for 1 and 0 respectively.

The Sydney Sixers beat the Titans in a last ball thriller to get across the line and win the 2nd semi final of the CLT20 2012 at Centurion. Needing 164 to win, the Sixers began in superb fashion, lost their way in the middle and somehow managed to scramble past the finish line with just 2 wickets in hand. Nothing can be taken away from the Titans though, they batted brilliantly and came back strongly in the 2nd innings to give the Sixers a tough battle.

Opting to bat first, the Titans lost a wicket in the first over as opener Jacques Rudolph departed for just 1, caught at thirdman. Due to the early wicket, Heino Kuhn was promoted up the order. The wicket-keeper batsman struck three boundaries before he was dismissed for 13, trying to flick a slightly low one from Mitchell Starc to the leg side. Starc struck again in his next over with a slower delivery that Skipper Van Jaarsveld popped into cover's hands. The Titans were in a spot of bother at 36-3 inside the powerplay.

The Highveld Lions have had many heroes in becoming the second Cricket South Africa (CSA) franchise to reach the final of the Karbonn Smart CLT20 after the Warriors in 2010. Names such as Gulam Bodi, Neil McKenzie, Chris Morris and Aaron Phangiso have dominated the headlines but there has been one unsung hero among them: coach Geoffrey Toyana.

The 38-year-old Toyana, who incidentally shares a birthday with South African batting legend Graeme Pollock, only took charge of the Lions this season and to reach the final of an international franchise event in his first assignment in charge represents an outstanding achievement.

The Highveld Lions produced a inspired bowling display to defend 139 against the power packed Delhi Daredevils and with it advance to the grand finale of the CLT20. The Lions' undying spirit, much like the raging winds at Durban, refuse to cease. Chris Morris(2-7) and Aaron Phangiso(2-18), who is almost predestined to have an IPL contract in his hands next year wreaked havoc on Delhi's listless reply,knocking the only remaining IPL team out of the lucrative tournament. While Delhi's semi-final jinx continued, the conspicious absence of Mahela Jaywardene loomed large as a taking point. Earlier in the day, the Lions recovered admirably from a sluggish start to make a middling total that eventually turned out to be more than sufficient thanks to their crack bowling attack. The batting edifice was built on Ghulam Bodi's fifty and Neil McKenzie's priceless death overs nitro-boost that earned him the Man of the Match award. Though wickets kept tumbling around him, Kevin Petersen scored a fifty of his own to add some semblance of respectabilty to Delhi's batting-sheet.

With rain predicted for the next couple days in Durban and Centurion, the CLT20 Governing Council has confirmed that a reserve day has been set aside in the event of a washout of either of these matches.

Centurion will host either of the semi-finals on Saturday, 27 October, in the event that rain does has the final say.

If it's one match that needs to be played, the match will start at 17h30. If it's both matches that need to be replayed, the first match of the double-header will start at 13h30 and the second at 17h30.

With the Delhi Daredevils and the Titans already through to the semi-finals of the Champions League T20 before they took to the pitch today at Centurion as a result of the Auckland Aces losing their match to the Perth Scorchers earlier in the day, the relevance of their contest was reduced to one that would determine which side would top Group A.

Sadly for the fans that had turned up at Centurion today the match was called off without a ball being bowled, thus granting the Delhi Daredevils top spot in Group A, and earning them a semi-final encounter with the Lions at Durban, while the Titans continue to stay on in Centurion where they await the undefeated Sydney Sixers.

The Perth Scorchers ended their CLT20 campaign on a high with a 16 run win against the Auckland Aces, owing to an inspired performance by their bowlers. The Aces did well to restrict Perth to just 140 with Michael Bates claiming 4 wickets. However, the Scorchers' bowlers outplayed the Aces' batsmen to restrict them to an even lower total, winning the game comfortably in the end.

The Scorchers won the toss and elected to bat. They rested Shaun and Mitchell Marsh, and Nathan Rimmington to let Paul Collingwood, Tom Beaton and Ryan Duffield have a go in this game. Herschelle Gibbs' disastrous tournament continued with yet another cheap dismissal, falling for 6. Skipper Marcus North led Perth's assault, assisted by Simon Katich, but was run out for 37 whilst attempting a cheeky single.

A couple of overs later, Katich was bowled round his legs for 21, leaving Perth in trouble at 67-3. Kyle Mills was very economical, his first three overs conceding just 6 runs. At this point, Perth were going ridiculously slowly, scoring at just 6 runs per over. Former England skipper Paul Collingwood scored a quick fire 38 of 27 balls and accelerated the scoring rate but was run out in a bizarre manner. He was given useful support by Beaton (22 of 19 balls). The last over saw three wickets fall as the Scorchers ended at 140-7.

The Aces began cautiously at under 6 an over. Lou Vincent was sent back early by Duffield for just 2. Once Martin Guptill settled down, he began playing his strokes, complemented by Azhar Mahmood at the other end. They were cruising at 60-1 but the batsmen decided to go on a suicidal mission after that. Overs 10 - 13 saw four quick dismissals; Guptill - caught behind off Michael Beer, Anaru Kitchen – caught in the deep off Brad Hogg, Mahmood – caught at extra cover by Gibbs, and Colin de Grandhomme – run out attempting an unnecessary run.

The Aces never really got out of the hole they found themselves in, except for a hopeful 16th over. Skipper Gareth Hopkins succumbed to pressure and was yorked by Beer for 9. Colin Munro followed him to the pavilion having made 23. Mills and Bates continued to play out the remaining overs knowing that they were never really close enough to make a case for victory.

Michael Beer was adjudicated Man of the Match for taking three important wickets and conceding just 14 runs in his 4 overs. This loss ended the Aces' semi-final hopes.

That meant that the Delhi Daredevils and the Titans qualify from Group A, with their match later in the day set to determine who would top the group.

Mini Scorecard

Perth Scorchers 140-7 (20 Overs, 7.00 rpo)
P Collingwood 38 (27), M Bates 4-34

Auckland 124-8 (20 Overs, 6.20 rpo)
M Guptill 36 (32), M Beer 3-13

Perth Scorchers win by 16 runs

The Sydney Sixers, without their one true superstar Shane Watson, won the toss and elected to make first use of a two paced wicket at Kingsmead, Durban. A patchy batting effort which was built around a workmanlike 41 from Steve Smith and included some run rate boosting cameos up and down the order allowed the Sixers to post an underpar 136-7 in their 20 overs. Mumbai, while perpetually behind the asking rate, had the game very much within their grasp at 88-3 heading into the last 5 overs, but lost 5 wickets for 15 runs in the next 4 overs to knock themselves out of the contest. It was a very professional performance from the Sixers, who showed that despite the absence of Watto, they are very much a force to be reckoned with heading into the semi-finals. 

The Sixers got off to a good start with Michael Lumb racing away to 28 from just 22 balls before falling to Lasith Malinga, but not before doing some damage to the Mumbai spearhead's bowling figures. At the other end, Peter Nevill had been largely deprived of the strike, but he and skipper Brad Haddin fell for 5 and 0 respectively in one Munaf Patel over. The former Indian pace bowler celebrated his return to the Mumbai side with excellent figures of 2-17.