What is it?
The second of edition of the SA20, South Africa’s premier T20 competition.
When is it?
The competition will run from January 10 to February 10.
Where is it?
This year’s competition will be held across six venues: Newlands (Cape Town), Centurion Park (Pretoria), Kingsmead (Durban), St George’s Park (Gqeberha), Wanderers (Johannesburg), and Boland Park (Paarl).
Which teams are involved?
As in 2023, there are six teams involved in SA20: Durban Super Giants, Joburg Super Kings, MI Cape Town, Paarl Royals, Pretoria Capitals and Sunrisers Eastern Cape.
All six are owned by Indian Premier League franchises.
What’s the format?
The group stage consists of a double round robin, with each team playing 10 matches (five home, five away) between January 10 and February 4. The top four teams advance to the playoffs (February 6-10).
The first and second-placed sides meet in Qualifier 1, with the winner earning direct entry to the final. The loser will drop into Qualifier 2 where they will face the winner of the Eliminator (third versus fourth) to decide the second finalist.
This marks a change from 2023, which featured two semi-finals, but brings the competition in line with the likes of the IPL and PSL.
What happened last year?
Sunrisers Eastern Cape won the inaugural SA20, beating Pretoria Capitals, who topped the table, by four wickets in the final. Joburg Super Kings and Paarl Royals also reached the knockout stages, bowing out in the semi-finals.
England’s Jos Buttler (Paarl Royals) was the competition’s leading run-scorer, scoring 391 runs, including four half-centuries, in 11 matches, while Roelof van der Merwe (Sunrisers) and Anrich Nortje (Pretoria Capitals) topped the wicket-taking charts, taking 20 wickets apiece.
Sunrisers captain Aiden Markram, who scored 366 runs, including one century, and took 11 wickets, was named player of the tournament.
Who are the overseas players?
Sunrisers Eastern Cape has a distinctly English flavour, with Dawid Malan, Liam Dawson, Brydon Carse, Adam Rossington, Tom Abell, and Craig Overton on the roster, while MI Cape Town has a half-dozen Englishmen, including Jofra Archer, Sam Curran, and Liam Livingstone, as well as Kieron Pollard (for the first three matches).
Buttler has been retained by Paarl Royals, where he will be joined by Jason Roy, Hampshire quick John Turner, West Indies duo Obed McCoy and Fabian Allen, and Ireland’s Lorcan Tucker, while Adil Rashid, Will Jacks, and Phil Salt will join New Zealand allrounder Jimmy Neesham and Ireland’s Paul Stirling in the overseas ranks.
Moeen Ali and Sam Cook will play for the Joburg Super Kings alongside Namibia international David Wiese and West Indies’ Romario Shepherd.
Durban Super Giants’ lone England international is Reece Topley. The overseas contingent is completed by West Indians Nicholas Pooran and Keemo Paul, Sri Lanka’s Bhanuka Rajapaksa, and Afghanistan bowlers Noor Ahmad and Naveen-ul-Haq. Naveen’s participation, on the other hand, is in doubt after the Afghanistan Cricket Board barred him from gaining NOCs for two years for “prioritising their personal interests over playing for Afghanistan.”
How can I watch it?
Supersport have the broadcast rights in South Africa, with matches shown across Supersport Grandstand and Supersport Cricket.
In the UK, all 34 matches will be available on Sky Sports.
