SA20

SA20
CountriesSouth Africa
AdministratorCricket South Africa
FormatTwenty20
First edition2023
Latest edition2024
Next edition2025
Tournament formatRound-robin and playoffs
Number of teams6
Current championSunrisers Eastern Cape (2nd title)
Most successfulSunrisers Eastern Cape (2 titles)
Most runsHeinrich Klaasen (810)
Most wicketsOttniel Baartman (30)
TVSuperSport (South Africa)
Sports18 (India)
Sky Sports (England)
Jio Cinema (India) (internet)
Fox Sports (Australia)
Willow TV (USA)
Websitewww.sa20.co.za

SA20, known as the Betway SA20 for sponsorship reasons, is a Twenty20 franchise cricket tournament in South Africa, organised by Cricket South Africa (CSA) and first contested during the 2022–23 season.[1][2] It is contested by six teams based in cities around the country.[3] [4] Sunrisers Eastern Cape won the first two editions of the tournament.

History

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Cricket South Africa established the franchise T20 Global League in 2017. The inaugural season was deferred by a year due to the lack of a broadcast deal and title sponsor and in June 2018 was replaced by the Mzansi Super League, a league featuring six CSA-owned teams.[5] Both the leagues became unsuccessful.[6] The MSL ran for only two seasons, the 2020 and 2021 editions being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

SA20 was established by CSA in 2022 through a newly formed entity, Africa Cricket Development (Pty) Limited (ACD). CSA is the majority stakeholder in ACD with a 50% share, while broadcaster SuperSport has a 30% share and former Indian Premier League (IPL) Chief Operating Officer Sundar Raman, the remaining 20%.[7] All six of the teams were bought by franchises from the IPL.[8] In July 2022, CSA announced that the One Day International series against Australia due to be played in January 2023 would be cancelled in order for SA20 to go ahead.[9]

In August 2022, Graeme Smith was announced as the commissioner for the tournament.[10] Later in the month, the marquee players for the first season were announced.[3]

In December 2023 Cricket South Africa announced that it would send a makeshift Test team, comprising players with little or no Test cricket experience, to its scheduled two-Test tour of New Zealand in February 2024, to allow its best players to remain in South Africa to compete in the SA20. The decision was widely criticised.[11] [12]

Organisation

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The six teams play each other twice in the group stages of the competition before the top four sides move to the semi-final stages.[13]

Teams acquire players through an auction as opposed to a draft, making it the second cricket league in the world after the Indian Premier League to do so. Each team purchases a squad of 17 players, with the opportunity of signing up to five players prior to the auction: three international players; one South African international player; and one uncapped South African player.[14][15]

Teams

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The six teams are all owned by existing Indian Premier League franchise owners, just like the franchises of the Caribbean Premier League.[16]

Team City Home ground Owner Captain
MI Cape Town Cape Town Newlands Cricket Ground Indiawin Sports Pvt. Ltd. Kieron Pollard
Durban's Super Giants Durban Kingsmead Cricket Ground RPSG Group Quinton de Kock
Joburg Super Kings Johannesburg Wanderers Stadium Chennai Super Kings Faf du Plessis
Paarl Royals Paarl Boland Park Manoj Badale David Miller
Pretoria Capitals Pretoria Centurion Park JSW Sports Wayne Parnell
Sunrisers Eastern Cape Gqeberha St George's Park Cricket Ground Sun Group Aiden Markram

Tournament season and results

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Number of titles

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Team Title(s) Runner-up Seasons won Seasons runner-up No. of seasons played
Sunrisers Eastern Cape 2 2023, 2024 2
Pretoria Capitals 1 2023
Durban's Super Giants 2024
Joburg Super Kings
Paarl Royals
MI Cape Town

Finals

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Season Winner Winning margin Runner-up Final venue Player of the season
2023 Sunrisers Eastern Cape
137/6 (16.2 overs)
Sunrisers Eastern Cape won by 4 wickets
Scorecard
Pretoria Capitals
135 (19.3 overs)
Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg Aiden Markram
(SEC)
2024 Sunrisers Eastern Cape
204/3 (20 overs)
Sunrisers Eastern Cape won by 89 runs
Scorecard
Durban's Super Giants
115 (17 overs)
Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town Heinrich Klaasen
(DSG)
2025 Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

Teams' performances

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Season 2023 2024 2025
Durban's Super Giants 5th RU
Joburg Super Kings SF PO
MI Cape Town 6th 6th
Paarl Royals SF PO
Pretoria Capitals RU 5th
Sunrisers Eastern Cape C C
  •   C: champions
  •   RU: runner-up
  •   SF or PO: team qualified for the semi-final stage of the competition

Prize money

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Cricket South Africa increased the prize money for the SA20 to a total of $890,000 . The prize money will be split between the teams as follows:[17]

The total prize money in the South Africa T20 League for the year 2024 SA20 season, a total prize money of 70 million Rand was awarded.

Ground

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South Africa
Cape Town Durban Johannesburg
Newlands Cricket Ground Kingsmead Cricket Ground Wanderers Stadium
Capacity: 25,000 Capacity: 25,000 Capacity: 34,000
Paarl Centurion Gqeberha
Boland Park Centurion Park St George's Park Cricket Ground
Capacity: 10,000 Capacity: 22,000 Capacity: 19,000

Broadcasting

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SuperSport, Sky Sports and the Sports18 network broadcast the tournament in South Africa, the United Kingdom and India respectively.

As of January 2023, Betway SA20 and Sky Sports have a five-year contract to broadcast the T20 cricket league.[18]

Records and statistics

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Batting Records
Most runs Heinrich Klaasen 810
Highest average Tom Abell 54.33
Highest score Kyle Verreynne 116* vs MI Cape Town (1 February 2024)
Most sixes Heinrich Klaasen 54
Bowling Records
Most wickets Ottniel Baartman 30
Best strike rate Colin Ackermann 6.00
Best economy rate Rilee Rossouw 3.00
Fielding
Most dismissals (wicket-keeper) Jos Buttler 19
Most catches (fielder) Will Jacks 14
Team Records
Highest total Durban's Super Giants 254–4 (20) vs Pretoria Capitals (5 February 2023)
Lowest total Pretoria Capitals 52 (13.3) vs Sunrisers Eastern Cape (22 January 2024)

Last updated on 6 May 2024

References

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  1. ^ "Cricket South Africa announces new six-team franchise-based T20 competition". ESPN Cricinfo.
  2. ^ "T20 COMES HOME AS CSA AND SUPERSPORT ANNOUNCE GRAND NEW EVENT". Cricket South Africa.
  3. ^ a b "CSA T20 League 2023: List of players signed up for the first edition". Wisden. 12 August 2022.
  4. ^ "CSA T20 league to be called 'SA20'; player auction to be held on September 19". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  5. ^ "Haroon Lorgat calls for independent inquiry into 'collapsed' T20 Global League". Hindustan Times. 24 July 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  6. ^ "The SA20 player auction: all you need to know". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  7. ^ "CSA confident of seeing off legal challenge to new T20 league". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  8. ^ "CSK, Mumbai Indians interested in buying franchises in South Africa's new T20 league". ESPN Cricinfo. 13 August 2022.
  9. ^ "South Africa's men's cricket team withdraws from three-match ODI series against Australia in January". ABC News. 13 July 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  10. ^ "Graeme Smith Named as Commissioner for CSA's New T20 league". Times of Sports. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  11. ^ "A South Africa Test squad with just seven capped players". ESPN cricinfo. 30 December 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  12. ^ "South African cricket's Faustian pact keeps the lights on, but at a price". The Guardian. 30 August 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  13. ^ "SA20 2022/23 Table, Matches, win, loss, points for SA20". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  14. ^ "Cricket South Africa | GLOBAL CRICKET SUPERSTAR LINED UP FOR SOUTH AFRICA T20 LEAGUE". Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  15. ^ "CSA T20 league: Livingstone and Buttler in top salary bracket as England, SA players hit paydirt". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  16. ^ "IPL franchise owners buy all six teams in South Africa's new T20 league". ESPN Cricinfo.
  17. ^ Sagar, Singh (11 February 2024). "SA20 2024 Winner Prize Money, Complete List of Award-Winners, Top Records & Stats All You Need To Know". CricTracker. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  18. ^ "Sky Sports to broadcast SA20". Super Sports. 9 January 2023.
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