Group B winners at the 2014 Champions League T20 tournament, the Kings XI Punjab, will face fellow Indian Premier League side the Chennai Super Kings, who were runner-up in Group A, in the second semi-final at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad on Thursday.
Kings XI will be highly delighted with their first appearance at the CLT20, although having made it through to the knockout stages, they will now have their sights set on taking the title.
Chennai who are the most successful side in Indian Premier League history have been perpetual competitors at the CLT20. Apart from 2008 when the tournament was cancelled, the Super Kings have appeared in all five versions of the competition. Winners in 2010, they were semi-finalists last season. The two seasons in between, they failed to progress beyond the group stages.
Chennai lost their first group stage match against the Knight Riders, from a position where they appeared to be easing to victory. That lost, coupled with a washed out match against the Lahore Lions, meant that qualification went down to the wire, and was not entirely in their hands.
The Lions went into their last match against the Perth Scorchers with a chance of overhauling the Super Kings, if they could inflict a fairly comprehensive win against the Australians.
Fortunately for Chennai, the Lions were unable despite their best efforts, and trying everything they could to get the necessary result, to get the win they needed to challenge for the knockout place.
Having posted just 124, the Lions needed to bowl the Scorchers out for 78, and employed Test match field settings, in the knowledge that they had to take wickets and dismiss the opposition if they were going to succeed.
With the spinners creating havoc, the fielders taking every opportunity, for 13 overs the Lions still had hopes and Chennai looked as if they were heading out. But from 64 for 7, Brad Hogg drove, cut and hoicked 15 runs in the 14th over, and the result became irrelevant. An all IPL semi-final was set up.