Otago line up warm-up ties against Deccan, Somerset

State Twenty20 champions Otago Volts will be playing the Deccan Chargers, the IPL winners, and Somerset, the Twenty20 Cup runners-up from England as part of their preparations for the inaugural Champions League Twenty20, beginning in India next month.

The match against Deccan will be a day-night affair at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, on October 6, four days prior to the Volts' opening match of the main tournament, against Cape Cobras, the South African domestic Twenty20 champions, at the same venue.

"To have such high quality opposition in our warm up matches will certainly give us a good indication of where we sit and areas for improvement leading into the tournament," Otago coach Mike Hesson told the Otago Daily Times. "It will be a special occasion to not only test ourselves against the winners of the IPL but for our young players to rub shoulders with a number of the greats of the game."

Otago are also scheduled to play warm-up matches in Australia against the Queensland Academy and South Australia before leaving for India on October 2.