As is the case in the world of T20 cricket these days, despite three tournaments currently going on around the globe, another gets underway on Thursday when the third season of the SA20 competition starts.
The South Africa domestic T20 competition is still largely in its infancy but it is growing all the time although the first two seasons have yielded the same winner with the Sunrisers Eastern Cape looking for a third success in as many years.
Recent Winners
2024 – Sunrisers Eastern Cape
2023 – Sunrisers Eastern Cape
The Format
The six teams each play the other five home and away in the first part of the competition. The top four in the table then make it through to the playoffs which follows the IPL format rather than the two semi-finals this year. There are no hugely quirky rules for this tournament although captains will be allowed to name 13 men in their side before the toss before choosing which two players to discard after the toss has taken place. There is a bonus point available for teams who win with a run rate of 1.25 times the opposition.
The Teams
The MI Cape Town have gone into this tournament as the favourites in each of the first two seasons and so far they haven’t seen another side below them in the table. It is clear they have underachieved with the personnel at their disposal and it will be interesting to see if this is the year that it clicks for them. Just six wins in 20 matches in this tournament over two years doesn’t paint a pretty picture but they have done some work to their squad with Trent Boult arriving to complete the Mumbai Indians set and Reeza Hendricks arriving to give some stability at the top of the order. They are 7/2 to win the tournament.
The Pretoria Capitals have moved themselves into the position of second favourites after a couple of promising campaigns. My immediate worry for them if they play at SuperSport Park where the ground has proven to be near enough impossible to defend on so if a couple of tosses go against them that would be a concern. There is a lot more firepower in this squad this year which is needed on their home ground but if Anrich Nortje isn’t good to go or doesn’t see the season through they might be lacking a bit with the ball. 4/1 feels skinny.
Johannesburg Super Kings are the next in the betting at 9/2. They were two wins away from winning the title last season but they have the same issue that the Pretoria Capitals have in that The Wanderers is close to impossible to defend and if they are asked to bat first in a couple of home games they could naturally be toast. Devon Conway and Jonny Bairstow arriving should offer more flexibility at the top of the order and Tabraiz Shamsi might be one way of assisting them to defend scores. The 9/2 is about fair to be honest.
The defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape are also 9/2 shots to win this tournament for a third straight year. They are very much the hunted rather than the hunters but sometimes franchises just suit competitions and that looks to be the case with the Eastern Cape. Their success is based on a good contingent of home players and the addition of David Bedingham for a debut in the tournament certainly does that no harm. Craig Overton should be able to replace Daniel Worrall and so it would be no surprise were the Sunrisers to keep hold of the crown.
Durban’s Super Giants have probably been the most disappointing team in this competition alongside the MI Cape Town outfit. They have underachieved and are now 5/1 to win the tournament this year. Kane Williamson is a marquee addition to their ranks and any team with Heinrich Klaasen in their middle order has to be taken seriously. The Super Giants’ bowling unit has let them down in the past so Shamar Joseph looks a good investment but ultimately this team couldn’t win the tournament with Nicholas Pooran so there isn’t any discernible reason why they would win it without him.
The outsiders of the lot are the Paarl Royals who can be backed at 15/2 to win the tournament despite having made the playoffs in each of the opening two campaigns. The big thing for the Royals is they have lost the services of Jos Buttler and as a result of that their top order looks incredibly light of powerplay exponents. Joe Root should bolster the middle order but if David Miller doesn’t have a big season it is hard to see Paarl competing even though they have enough bowling options to be solid.
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Outright Betting
This is a competitive outright market this year. I’ve got to think that MI Cape Town will come to the party this time around but I’m still not a massive fan of backing them because we would be betting on faith rather than anything we’ve seen. I’m not as convinced about the Pretoria Capitals as the bookmakers while the toss factor with the Joburg Super Kings puts me off them. Durban’s Super Giants and Paarl Rocks don’t look as strong as in previous seasons which leaves me with one team.
That leaves us with the defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape. I’m not usually a backer of players or teams defending titles but sometimes the team who doesn’t have to change much in these things are the ones to be on. The Sunrisers just have a formula that works. There isn’t much coming and going in their squad and they have recruited for their home conditions which is a must. They have a good leader, batting depth with some star firepower and some good bowling options and I think based on the two seasons so far they should be shorter than they are. I’ll take the 9/2 on them.
Tournament Top Batter
With not so much international cricket going on during this tournament there are a lot more batters who could come to the party in this campaign which makes for a much more competitive top batter market for the season. Usually I’m looking at an opener in these things and the winner last year, Ryan Rickelton would definitely interest me although he is a bit short but in the end I’ll go with the star attraction in this part of the world.
I took Heinrich Klaasen in this competition at 18/1 last year and even though he hasn’t slowed down any in terms of hitting power he has only shortened to 14/1 for this competition. Klaasen has form figures of 4-2 in the batting runs list in the opening two seasons and if someone like Quinton de Kock, who isn’t as active as he used to be, struggles initially, there could be more time for Klaasen to go mental. These grounds are nowhere near big enough to contain Klaasen who looks a perfectly viable each way option at 14/1.
Tournament Top Bowler
The same credentials can be attributed to the bowling department too in terms of us not having to worry about international cricket getting in the way of any selections we make. The only decision is whether to look at seamers or spinners and the first two seasons don’t really help us much in that regard. Spinners went very well in the first season while last term the seamers came to the fore but one player only played half of the campaign a year ago but is here for the duration this time.
Noor Ahmad has had a lot of success in his young career with the likes of the Gujarat Titans giving him a key role in the IPL and he is at the Durban’s Super Giants for the whole season this time around. That bodes well because in just six matches he took 12 wickets last term so if you add the other four games on, assuming Durban don’t make the finals, and he stays at the same strike rate he’ll be on 20 wickets which was the winning total in the first two campaigns. I’m not convinced regulation spin will play much of a part in this tournament but mystery spin will because South Africans still aren’t comfortable facing it and with that in mind the Afghan leggie looks a fair bet.
Top Team Bets
There are a couple of firms who have priced up the team bowler and batter markets and there are a couple of those which catch my eye. The first comes in the Paarl Royals batting where David Miller looks a justifiable favourite. It looks like he is going to go up into the middle order and perhaps bat at four if not five and he should get enough time at the crease to do some damage. He looked in good touch in the T20 series with Pakistan recently and as the key man in the Royals line up I think he is the man to beat.
The other bet I like is a much more speculative one but there is a chance that the Joburg Super Kings have issues with a couple of their bowlers so they might utilise the services of David Wiese a bit more and he could be value at 33/1 to be their leading wicket taker. The Namibia all-rounder is used to bowling at the death which would certainly help his cause and he can take wickets at the start of the innings. It might be that he doesn’t get enough game time so there is a risk but at the price it is one I’m willing to take.
Tips
Back Sunrisers Eastern Cape to win SA20 2025 for a 2/10 stake at 5.50 with Betway
Back H.Klaasen Top Tournament Batter (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 15.00 with Bet365 (1/4 1-4)
Back N.Ahmad Top Tournament Bowler (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 13.00 with Bet365 (1/4 1-4)
Back D.Miller Top Paarl Royals Tournament Batter for a 3/10 stake at 2.88 with Bet365
Back D.Wiese Top Joburg Super Kings Tournament Bowler for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with Betway
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