Dolphins V Lahore Lions: CLT20 Date, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

After rain washed out their much-anticipated Champions League Twenty20 clash with the Chennai Super Kings, the Lahore Lions need to beat the rock-bottom Dolphins to keep their faint qualification hopes alive.

But with the South African team desperate to break their duck, they will be far from pushovers. Let's take a look at how the two sides are shaping up ahead of this Group A contest.

Venue: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, India

Date: Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014

Start time: 4 p.m. local time, 11:30 p.m. BST

Weather: Tropical, tropical, tropical, according to bbc.com/weather, with a mix of heat and heavy showers currently scheduled right around game time.

Live stream/TV Info: STAR Cricket (India), Ten Sports/PTV Sports (Pakistan), SuperSport (South Africa), Eurosport (UK/Europe), Sky TV (New Zealand), Network Ten/Fox (Australia), CSN/Star Cricket (Sri Lanka), Star Cricket (Bangladesh), ESPN (USA and Caribbean), Willow Cricket (USA)

Preview

The tie with Chennai gave Lahore their first group-stage points, but their chances of progressing remain slim with Kolkata's names already in the hat and CSK and Perth sitting ahead of them in the table.

However, a win for Mohammad Hafeez's men, who came through the qualification stages as runners-up, could make things very interesting.

Aijaz Rahi/Associated Press

So far, the Lions' international stars, Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez have led the way with the bat, but Aizaz Cheema has proved the biggest handful with the ball.

The 35-year-old, who hasn't represented Pakistan since 2012, has taken 10 wickets in just four matches and leads the overall tournament in terms of scalps.

Lahore will again look to these experienced figures to step up and give them a chance of the back-to-back victories they need to make the last four.

Their opponents, the Dolphins, are winless so far, and it wouldn't be a surprise if confidence was low in the camp.

In their opening game, they were ahead for most of the contest until Mitchell Marsh smeared the last two deliveries of the match for six to earn Perth an unlikely victory.

And last time out, Chennai smashed 242 runs off 20 overs from the Dolphins' beleaguered attack to win comfortably and emphasise the gulf in class between the IPL super powers and the "normal" teams.

They will need to shake off the psychological damage from these two defeats quickly if they aren't going to leave India empty-handed.

On the plus side, Khaya Zondo is in form with the blade and is the only member of the South African-based side to register a 50 in the tournament

Meanwhile, Kyle Abbott has shown international-class control throughout to take two wickets and post a relatively useful economy rate as his peers have been taken apart.

Squads

Lahore Lions (from): Mohammad Hafeez (capt), Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Siddique Khan, Mohammad Umar Akmal, Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Salman Ali, Asif Raza, Mustafa Iqbal, Wahab Riaz, Aizaz Cheema, Imran Ali, Saad Naseem, Adnan Rasool, Mohammad Saeed, Ali Manzoor.

Dolphins (from): Morne van Wyk (capt), Kyle Abbott, Craig Alexander, Cody Chetty, Cameron Delport, Daryn Dupavillon, Robbie Frylinck, Keshav Maharaj, Sibonelo Makhanya, Andile Phehlukwayo, Daryn Smit, Prenelan Subrayen, Jonathan Vandiar, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Khaya Zondo

Players to Watch

Lahore Lions

Umar Akmal has provided some spectacular firepower so far in the tournament with his 90 runs coming from just 54 balls, 12 of which were despatched to the boundary. If the wicketkeeper-batsman can find his range again, the Lions will fancy their chances of posting or chasing a large total.

Dolphins

A name to watch out for on the unheralded Dolphins teamsheet is Cameron Delport, who showed why he is part of the South African Emerging Players team with a blistering 34 off just nine balls against CSK. The 25-year-old all-rounder opens the batting and can hit a very long ball while also chipping in with some medium pace.

Prediction

Both teams seem relatively evenly matched and given that the Dolphins have been somewhat unfortunate, they are due some luck. The pressure is on the Lions to perform, and they could buckle to give the South African side their first win.