Bridgetown (Barbados), August 1 (IANS/CMC): Nearly $1 million will be up for grabs in prizes in the inaugural Caribbean Premier T20 League, the organisers have announced.

The array of prizes that the six franchise teams will be battling for over the next four weeks was unveiled as the tournament began on Tuesday.

The prize money for the 21 preliminary matches adds up to $525,000 ($25,000 per match) and the semifinalists will battle it out in a winner take all final match worth $250,000.

Along with the Man of the Match award of $1,000 per match across the full 24 matches, and additional player awards the total prize pot for the CPLT20 will exceed a whopping $800,000.

Official partner El Dorado’s “Catch of the Match” award will go to the player in each of the 24 matches who takes the most thrilling catch.

Virgin, the official airline of the CPL T20, will be staging the “Virgin Challenge” which encourages the players to hit balls high into the sky to try and strike the Virgin red balloon positioned over the stadium with the chance to win a round the world trip for two for the master slugger who rises to the challenge.

In addition, title sponsor and Guyana Amazon Warriors franchise owner Limacol has introduced the Super Six award where $500 per match - 24 matches, $12,000 in total - will be given to the player who scores the most sixes in that match.

“While being named the winner of the tournament is a great achievement in and of itself we also know that the substantial prize pot plus the fantastic challenges that the sponsors are putting in place will also be a great motivator for the players,” said CPL CEO Damien O’Donohoe.