Kolkata vs. Hurricanes: CLT20 Semi-Final, Live Stream, TV Info and Preview

The overdrawn Champions League Twenty20 tournament has taken its time to reach its climax but, almost a month after its opening game, Kolkata Knight Riders and Hobart Hurricanes will contest the first semi-final.

Let's take a look at how these two powerful sides match up and examine some of the subplots that underpin this high-quality contest.

Venue: Ranjiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad, Deccan, India

Date: Thursday, Oct. 2, 2014

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

Weather: According to bbc.co.uk, humid conditions await with the usual tropical mix of heat and possible rain showers.

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

Kolkata have now won a remarkable 13 consecutive games of T20 cricket—a run which includes winning the 2014 IPL title—and possess a quality all-round team.

Ahead of this crunch clash, however, there is a cloud hanging over one of their key players.

In their win over the Dolphins, star player Sunil Narine was reported for having a "suspected illegal bowling action" when delivering a couple of faster balls. The Trinidadian will be able to play in this semi-final but his confidence must have been impacted.

Elsewhere it is business as usual with a high quality batting unit that features experienced pros such as Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir mixing it with youngsters like Manish Pandey and Suryakumar Yadav.

Uthappa has been the main man, chipping in with 154 runs but seven batsmen overall have scored 34 or more and all are capable of clearing the ropes.

Narine has been the main man with the ball but Yusuf Pathan and Kuldeep Yadav have also chipped in with miserly returns, while Piyush Chawla is a quality T20 bowler, too.

Will Russell/Getty Images

After surprising the rest of the Big Bash League teams to finish as runners-up, Hobart have taken their form into this competition and will fancy their chances of usurping the IPL champions.

A powerful top six that boasts Aiden Blizzard, Ben Dunk, Tim Paine and Travis Birt is capable of chasing down testing totals. But an experienced bowling line-up led by Ben Hilfenhaus and Doug Bollinger means they don't have to very often.

Throw in the all-round skills of Pakistani all-rounder Shoaib Malik and it is clear that KKR have a game on their hands here.

These two teams have never met before but it is worth noting that, of the five previous games on this ground in this tournament, four have been won by the side batting second.

Squads

Kolkata Knight Riders (from): Gautam Gambhir (capt), Yusuf Pathan, Robin Uthappa (wk), Piyush Chawla, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Sunil Narine, Jacques Kallis, Ryan ten Doeschate, Pat Cummins, Andre Russell, Manvinder Bisla

Hobart Hurricanes (from): Tim Paine (capt, wk), Jonathan Wells, Evan Gulbis, Xavier Doherty, Ben Hilfenhaus, Dominic Michael, Sam Rainbird, Travis Birt, Doug Bollinger, Aiden Blizzard, Cameron Boyce, Joe Mennie, Ben Laughlin, Ben Dunk, Shoaib Malik

Players to Watch

Kolkata Knight Riders

Sunil Narine's decision to miss the West Indies Test series against Bangladesh in order to be available for the CLT20 has paid dividends with 11 scalps at an average of just 7.45. However, the world's leading T20 bowler was also cited for throwing in Kolkata's last game. All eyes will be watching to see how the Trinidadian responds here.

Hobart Hurricanes

Aiden Blizzard continues to thrash out the runs in this tournament, with 188 coming from just four innings. Coming in at first wicket down, the 30-year-old will need to maintain his big-hitting ways if Hobart are to have a chance of toppling the IPL giants.

Prediction

The IPL team will start as favourites, but my money is on Hobart. Their close-knit line-up has all the bases covered and, with a strong seam attack, can catch the Knight Riders off guard here.