There have been numerous franchise tournaments going around all over the globe. Indian Premier League, Big Bash League, and Caribbean Premier League are a few. These all provide revenue, fame, and a lot of talented players getting a big stage to showcase their prowess.
In their hope to do the same for T20 cricket, South Africa thought of bringing up a couple of t20 franchise tournaments in the recent past, though they did not turn out to be much of a success. T20 Global League started in 2017, and the Mzansi Super League, the latter of which had four seasons, two in 2020 and 2021, got canceled due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Here comes SA20, inaugurated just a few days back. This tournament looks much more promising than the previous ones, and the start we have had gives a sense of hope and assurance of being more successful. Speaking about new cricketing tournaments, you can reach out for upto date cricket live scores to follow the sport.
There will be six teams playing twice with each other before the top 3 teams would go onto and reach the playoff stage. Let us look at the teams and their captains for the first SA20 season.
Pretoria Capitals
Team Squad
Batters
Rilee Rossouw, Will Jacks, Cameron Delport, Kusal Mendis, Theunis de Bruyn, Marco Marais, Phil Salt
Bowlers
Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell (C), Josh Little, Daryn Dupavillon, Migael Pretorius, Eathan Bosch, Adil Rashid, Shaun von Berg
All Rounders
Shane Dadswell, James Neesham
There is a good mix of experience and young talent. Wayne Parnell is made the team captain.
Phil Salt, Rilee, Kusal, and Will Jacks form a good set of batsmen. Will Jacks, with a strike rate of 154.48, is a really valuable asset, and he can act as an anchor as well. The other English batsman in the team, Phil Salt, is known for his hard-hitting gameplay at the top of the order. The form in which Rilee has been lately would boost the batting lineup only more.
The bowlers present in the team do not disappoint either, as the Capitals have gun bowler Anrich, who, after coming back from injury and changing his bowling action a bit, has been more effective. The captain (Wayne) has played much good cricket in the recent past, and the other specialists t20 bowlers in the form of Adil and Josh are present to make a good bowling lineup overall. They also have a good all-rounder in James Neesham.
Durban Super Giants
Team Squad
Batsman
Quinton de Kock (C & WK), Kyle Mayers, Johnson Charles, Christiaan Jonker, Heinrich Klaasen, Matthew Breetzke
All Rounders
Jason Holder, Dwaine Pretorious, Keemo Paul, Wigan Mulder, Prenalen Subrayen
Bowlers
Reece Topley, Kyle Abbott, Junior Dala, Dilshan Madushanka, Keshav Maharaj, Simon Harmer
Quinton de Kock has been appointed as the captain of Durban Super Giants for the inaugural season of SA20. This team possesses a good set of T20 players. Kyle Mayers has been entertaining cricket fans with his wide range of shots since he started opening for the West Indies. On the other hand, Jonker can turn out to be their trump card.
The all-rounder section for the team gives a lot more confidence. To make a great T20 team, you must have a good set of all-rounders who could turn the game to their team’s side at any moment. In Jason Holder, they get a good bowler who can add those fast runs batting down the order; he does field well too. Keemo Paul and recently retired Dwaine are the other two all-rounders who can balance the team perfectly.
Talking about the bowling section, they have arguably the best South African spinner in form in their team, Keshav. Kyle, Reece, and Junior will take care of the pace department. Overall it is all set for them, and if the players play in sync, this team can be the top contender to win the tournament.
Johannesburg Super King
Team Squad
Batsmen
Faf du Plessis (C), Harry Brook, Reeza Hendricks, Janneman Malan, Kyle Verreynne, Leus de Plooy
All Rounders
Donovan Ferreira, Romario Shephard, George Garton, Lewis Gregory
Bowlers
Alzarri Joseph, Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee, Lizaad Williams, Malusi Siboto, Maheesh Theekshana, Caleb Seleka
A good combination of young Protean talent with a mix of experience is what this team has. Experienced campaigner Faf will be leading this side. The batting lineup is what excites the most about this team. The local players Reeza, Faf, and Malan would form the team’s foundation, and Harry could be considered the X factor that every team looks for in a t20 team.
The all-rounder section could look better; they look on and off and need more consistency. Romario being the guy who can turn the game on his day, should not be doubted much, however.
Alzarri and Romario add that Caribbean flavor, which is a main ingredient in a t20 franchise team. Maheesh could prove to be another X factor for the team, considering his exploits in the shortest format of the game.
MI Cape Town
Team Squad
Batsmen
Dewald Brevis, Liam Livingstone, Rassie Van Der Dussen, Delano Potgieter, Wesley Marshall, Grant Roelofsen, Ryan Rickelton
All rounders
Rashid Khan (C), Odean Smith
Bowlers
Kagiso Rabada, Sam Curran, Duan Jensen, Ziyaad Abrahams, Olly Stone, Beuran Hendricks, George Linde, Waqar Salamkheil
This wonderful pool of players will be led by the great leg spinner Rashid Khan. Starting with the set of the batsman, Dewald can be the aggressor at the top. Middle order would comprise swashbuckling batsman Liam, and to add calm and much-required stability, the team has Rassie as the anchor.
Imagine Kagiso Rabada, Sam Curran, and Rashid Khan all in one team. It would be interesting to see how a batsman would score against this team against such a strong bowling lineup.
Odean Smith is another guy to look out for.
Paarl Royals
Team Squad
Batsmen
David Miller, Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, Eoin Morgan, Dane Vilas, Mitchell Van Buuren, Wihaan Lubbe
All Rounders
Codi Yusuf, Corbin Bosch, Evan Jones
Bowlers
Obed McCoy, Ramon Simmonds, Ferisco Adams, Lungi Ngidi, Bjorn Fortuin, Tabraiz Shamsi, Imran Manack
Killer Miller has been appointed the captain of Paarl Royals. The set of batsmen the team boasts of shows much more promise than all the other teams. They have all the boxes ticked. Jos and Jason would take care of the top order; In David Miller and Eoin Morgan, they have the most sort-out middle-order batsmen ever. They can play well according to any game situation. Looking at their squad, they have multiple young prospects, who, if groomed well, can be good batsmen.
The all-rounder section isn’t looking that good. Inexperience and no big name for an all-rounder could hurt this team, making them slightly weak in having a genuine 5th bowling option.
In the bowling section, they have Obed McCoy, known for his slower ones. They have Lungi and Fortuin, the other pacers, to support him well. The spin department has Shamsi, a proven match-winner in the shortest-game format.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape
Team Squad
Batsmen
Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs , Adam Rossington, Sarel Erwee, Jordan Cox, Tom Abell, Marques Ackerman
All Rounders
James Fuller, JJ Smuts, Roelof van der Merwe
Bowlers
Sisanda Magala, Ayabulela Gqamane, Ottniel Baartman, Bryden Carse, and Marco Jansen
Aiden Markram is the one who would lead this amazing pack. This list of batsmen is one of the most underrated and exciting batting lineups you would like to see perform. The English duo of Cox and Abell is the pair to look out for. They have been striking the ball at a strike rate of 135+ in the T20s, making them quite dangerous.
Fuller is the name you would have heard about for his recent exploits in Vitality Blast 2022 and Abu Dhabi T10. The all-rounders this team has, surely, are the best of the lot. Smuts is one player to look out for, as he can give those handy cameos and take match-deciding wickets.
The Wrap
With the previous few franchise cricket tournaments in South Africa not living upto the expectations, there are high hopes that this time it turns out to be a bit more successful than the other ones. It would be quite interesting to see which team would get the maiden title of what seems to be much more promising with the great players involved from all over the world.
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