Royal Challengers Bangalore will face South Africa's Cape Cobras in the opening Champions League T20 tie in Bangalore on Oct 8.

Hyderabad will host the final on October 23 as well as the second semi-final on October 22, while Delhi will host the first semi-final on October 21, as per the draw and match schedule announced by the USD six million CLT20 Governing Council on Thursday.

Three Indian teams - IPL-II champions Deccan Chargers Hyderabad, runners-up Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils, the top finishers after the league phase - will take part in the tournament to be held in three centres across the country.

Cricket Australia and South Africa, the other two founder members of the tournament, will have two teams each while an equal number of teams will represent the England and Wales Cricket Board.

The remaining three teams will be from New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.

The teams will be divided into four groups of three each in the first phase of the event to spot eight qualifiers for the second league phase.

The three Indian teams have been pooled in different groups in the preliminary phase.

In order to simplify the logistics, the teams that move into the second league phase will maintain their position from the earlier group stage.

The preliminary groupings are:

Group A: A1 - Deccan Chargers, Hyderabad (Ind), A2 - ECB2 (To be decided), A3 - Trinidad and Tobago (WI).

Group B: B1 - New South Wales Blues (Aus), B2 - Diamond Eagles (SA), B3 - ECB1 (To be decided).

Group C: C1 - Royal Challengers, Bangalore (Ind), C2 - Cape Cobras (SA), C3 - Otago Volts (NZ).

Group D: D1 - Delhi Daredevils (Ind), D2 - Victorian Bushrangers (Aus), D3 - Wayamba (SL).