SA20 2024: All you need to know

The Cricketer has all of the information you need ahead of the second edition of the SA20…

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.

^{Roelof van der Merwe was the joint-leading wicket-taker in 2023 [Sportzpics/CSA/SA20]}

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.

^{Jos Buttler is among the overseas players involved in the second edition of SA20 [Sportzpics/CSA/SA20]}

Who are the overseas players?

There's a distinctly English flavour at Sunrisers Eastern Cape, with Dawid Malan, Liam Dawson, Brydon Carse, Adam Rossington, Tom Abell and Craig Overton on the roster for the defending champions, while MI Cape Town also have a number of Englishmen, including Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone, as well as Kieron Pollard (for the first three matches) and Kieron Pollard.

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 at Pretoria Capitals, Adil Rashid, Will Jacks and Phil Salt are in the overseas ranks alongside New Zealand allrounder Jimmy Neesham and Ireland's Paul Stirling.

Moeen Ali and Sam Cook are set to don Joburg Super Kings yellow alongside the likes of Namibia international David Wiese and West Indies' Romario Shepherd.

Reece Topley and Richard Gleeson are the English representatives at Durban Super Giants. West Indians Nicholas Pooran and Keemo Paul, Sri Lanka's Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Marcus Stoinis (after the Big Bash) and Afghanistan bowlers Noor Ahmad and Naveen-ul-Haq complete the overseas contingent. Naveen's involvement, however, is up in the air after the Afghanistan Cricket Board banned him from receiving 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.

Related Topics

• SA20 2024 squads: Full player list for all teams