SA20
CountriesSouth Africa
AdministratorCricket South Africa
FormatTwenty20
First edition2022–23
Tournament formatRound-robin and playoffs
Number of teams6
Current championSunrisers Eastern Cape
Most successfulSunrisers Eastern Cape
TVSuperSport (South Africa)
Sports18 (India)
Sky Sports (England)
Jio Cinema
(India) (internet)
Fox Sports (Australia)
Willow TV(USA)
2023–24 SA20
Websitethesat20.com

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] The first winners of the tournament were Sunrisers Eastern Cape.

History

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

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

The six teams are all owned by existing Indian Premier League franchise owners.[16]

Location of SA20 teams
Team City Home ground Owner Captain Head coach
MI Cape Town Cape Town, Western Cape Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town Indiawin Sports Kieron Pollard Robin Peterson[17]
Durban's Super Giants Durban, Kwazulu-Natal Kingsmead Cricket Ground, Durban RPSG Group Quinton De Kock Lance Klusener[18]
Joburg Super Kings Johannesburg, Gauteng Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg India Cements Faf du Plessis Stephen Fleming[19]
Paarl Royals Paarl, Western Cape Boland Park, Paarl Royals Sports Group David Miller JP Duminy[20]
Pretoria Capitals Pretoria, Gauteng Centurion Park, Centurion JSW Group Wayne Parnell Graham Ford[21]
Sunrisers Eastern Cape Gqeberha, Eastern Cape St George's Park Cricket Ground, Gqeberha SUN Group Aiden Markram Adrian Birrell[22]

Tournament season and results

SA20 season winner
Season Final No. of teams Player of the series
Venue Winners Result Runners-up
2022–23 Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg Sunrisers Eastern Cape
137/6 (16.2 overs)		 Sunrisers Eastern Cape won by 4 wickets
Scorecard		 Pretoria Capitals
135 (19.3 overs)		 6 Aiden Markram
(Sunrisers Eastern Cape)
2023–24 6

Teams' performances

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

Broadcasting

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.[23]

References

  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. 1 2 "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. ↑ "MI Cape Town appoint Robin Peterson as head coach and Lasith Malinga as bowling coach". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  18. ↑ Taylor, Compiled by Craig. "Klusener set for head coach role at Durban franchise in Cricket SA's new T20 league". Sport. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  19. ↑ "Faf du Plessis appointed captain of Johannesburg Super Kings in SA20 league; Stephen Fleming named head coach". TimesNow. September 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  20. ↑ Sportstar, Team (15 September 2022). "SA20: JP Duminy named head coach of Paarl Royals". sportstar.thehindu.com. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  21. ↑ "Former Ireland cricket boss Graham Ford named Pretoria Capitals head coach". The Irish Times. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  22. ↑ "Birrell, Steyn to coach Sunrisers Eastern Cape". HeraldLIVE. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  23. ↑ "Sky Sports to broadcast SA20". Super Sports. 9 January 2023.
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