
The competition for SA20 knockout spots continues this weekend with three matches scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
SA20 Game 20
Paarl Royals v Pretoria Capitals | Saturday 25 January 2025 | Boland Park, Paarl | 13:00
Boland Park is a venue where teams that chase have fared better. 58.3% of recent T20 games have gone the way of the side batting second. Expect whoever wins the toss on Saturday to field first.
David Miller has won the toss just twice in this season’s SA20. Both times he has won it has been at Boland Park and both times he has opted to field. With only a 33% toss success rate he will be hoping for some luck on Saturday.
Paarl Royals
Back in Paarl for their penultimate home game of the pool phase, the Royals will be brimming with confidence as they come into the game on the back of four consecutive wins. With 20 points from six games, they are not quite assured of a spot in the play-offs, but they can be relaxed as they approach the game, knowing that it would take something almost unprecedented to stop them advancing from here.
The Royals are the form team of the tournament with five wins from six games. What makes their performance even better is the fact that they have lost just 25 wickets in all competitions. They lost nine in their defeat to MI Cape Town, while their wins have been convincing, done with the losses of four, two, four, one and five wickets respectively. That means they are losing an average of just over four wickets a game – which goes a long way to explaining why they keep winning.
The 18-year-old opener Lhuan-dre Pretorius has taken a massive liking to the Boland Park wicket and he’s currently the tournament’s leading run-scorer with a total of 258 runs at an average of 43. He scores fast as well with a strike rate of 180. This is a kid with a very bright future ahead of him.
Pretorius’ opening partner is the veteran Joe Root, a player who is so loving his time with the Boland team that he is house-hunting in the area. He’s third on the run-scorers list with 201 runs at an average of 50.25.
David Miller has been phenomenal for the Royals all tournament, both as a skipper and as a batsman. He was out for just the second time all tournament against DSG on Thursday to peg his average back to 77.
Look out for Mujeeb Ur-Rahman with the ball. Not many wickets have fallen at Boland Park, but the Afghan spinner is still the tournament’s joint-highest wicket-taker with ten scalps at an average of 17.3. He has been well supported by unheralded star Dayyaan Galiem who has taken seven.
Pretoria Capitals
It’s not clear why, but the Capitals simply haven’t got going all tournament. They head into Saturday’s game with just a single win to their name and second bottom of the table. Right now, it feels like the top three places will be shared between PR, MICT and SEC with the other three teams duking it out for the final playoff spot.
There was a change to the Capitals squad in midweek with former skipper Wayne Parnell exiting the building. He has been replaced by Australian all-rounder Tom Rogers who most recently was with the Melbourne Renegades in Australia’s Big Bash League.
Pretoria skipper Rilee Rossouw is a man hopelessly out of form. He is averaging 5.6 per innings and has had almost no influence on the tournament thus far. In a tournament that has seen skippers like Aiden Markram, Rashid Khan, Faf du Plessis, David Miller and Keshav Maharaj leading their teams from the front, Rossouw has been largely anonymous. Whether it is with the bat or in the field, the former Protea man needs to find a way to rally the troops and assert himself.
Verdict: Paarl Royals
It is hard to look past Paarl for another win. Yes, their run must end at some point, but that’s not going to be at home against the struggling Capitals. It will be later, once their top four spot is secured.
We 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐕𝐄! 🦁💛#SECvJSK#WhistleForJoburg#ToJoburgWeBelong#SA20 pic.twitter.com/ykzE2BLif3
— Joburg Super Kings (@JSKSA20) January 25, 2025
SA20 Game 21
MI Cape Town v Durban Super Giants | Saturday 25 January 2025 | Newlands, Cape Town | 17:30
Traditionally Newlands has always been a venue where you batted first of you won the toss. That has changed in recent times with the team setting having won 13 of the last 25 and the team chasing winning 12.
Expect another full house at Newlands on Saturday. The crowds at this season’s SA20 have been excellent and Cape Town fans are renowned for their excellent support.
MI Cape Town
Ryan Rickelton has hit a purple patch at Newlands that started with his double century in the Test against Pakistan and which he followed up with a fluent 89 against JSK last weekend. He is a man in form and although he missed a few games due to injury he has already contributed 115 runs to the MICT cause at an average of 38.33 and a strike rate of over 200.
MICT are very strong in almost every department, but the one area that has been found short is the number four batting spot when Colin Ingram has not yet delivered. Ingram has scored just 41 runs all tournament and the team will be hoping that he is going to come right.
It shouldn’t be a tough place to bat either for Ingram as the MICT top three have performed well all competition. Between Rassie van der Dussen, Rickelton and Reeza Hendricks MICT haven’t battled for good starts. Van der Dussen is the tournament second highest run scorer while Hendricks is ninth.
Cape Town bowl as a unit and they are very effective. While some sides have a standout bowler of two, MICT have multiple bowlers who take wickets.
George Linde, Kagiso Rabada, Rashid Khan, Trent Boult and Delano Potgieter have all come to the party with their fair share of scalps. Don’t expect much to change on Saturday – DSG will be under pressure from the first ball against what is surely the tournament’s most well-rounded attack.
Delano Potgieter had a massive start to the tournament, and he has gone a little quiet since, but he is still there and shouldn’t be forgotten. He is averaging 7.6 with the ball and 101 with the bat – quite crazy numbers.

Durban Super Giants
It just doesn’t get any easier for the struggling DSG as they go looking for their first win in seven. With each team playing ten games in the pool stages, DSG have three matches left to turn their season around. They are not quite out of contention of a playoff spot yet, but another loss at Newlands on Sunday will make it almost impossible to advance – it really is make-or-break time for Keshav Maharaj’s side.
DSG appear to have seen the folly of their ways with their experimental batting order returned to normal in their last outing against Paarl on Thursday. Quinton de Kock opened, and Heinrich Klaasen batted at three. It didn’t change the outcome as they fell to yet another loss, but at least it felt like they were giving themselves more of a chance.
As troubled as the DSG season has been, coach Lance Klusener remains confident, saying his team can still go all the way. In an interview with CrinInfo he said: “I think if we can get going, we’re going to be difficult to stop if we can qualify. I’ve been doing franchise cricket now for many years, and I know that teams that pick up momentum towards the end are the ones that are generally difficult to stop. Yes, we’ve got a bit of work to do, but that’s sport, and that’s what brings these great cricketers back every day. It’s that opportunity to write a story,” he said
The weather has not been kind to DSG and their efforts to build momentum have not in any way been helped by rain with two of their games being washed out. There won’t be any such problems for them in Cape Town this weekend where it is predicted to be hot and dry.
As much as DSG have battled this season Noor Ahmad has produced the results. The Afghan spinner is joint second on the list of leading wicket-takers with nine scalps.
Brandon King, who has scored just 17 runs for DSG this season is having a nightmare time. The powerful West Indian opener missed DSG’s last outing, against Paarl with illness and will be hoping that he can find some form in Cape Town.
Verdict: MI Cape Town
Playing at home and with form and momentum on their side, it will take a huge performance from DSG to bring this one home.

SA20 Game 22
Joburg Super Kings v Sunrisers Eastern Cape | Sunday 26 January 2025 | Wanderers, Johannesburg | 15:30
There is not much to choose between batting first or second at Wanderers. From the last 26 games played there the seam batting second has won 12 while the team batting first has won 11.
The head-to-head match-up between these sides is very even. Before Friday’s encounter at St Georges Park, they each had two wins each. With the SEC winning on Friday, they now hold a 3-2 advantage over JSK.
Joburg Super Kings
The Super King’s recent form may have been patchy, but the good news for their fans is that their final four games are all at home. Sunday’s encounter against SEC, the return of the Friday game that took place in Gqeberha is the first of those four.
Speaking after the loss on Friday skipper Faf du Plessis said: “Last year, we got on a bit of a run at home, so we are looking forward to the challenge (of playing them at our home) in a few days.” Right now, JSK need to focus on keeping a gap between themselves and the two sides behind them rather than worrying too much about the teams ahead of them.
Gauteng and summer are not always the best combination when it comes to rain. At the time of writing, there is no rain forecast on Sunday – everyone will be hoping that it stays that way.
Faf du Plessis has a very good record at the Wanderers. Not only is he the second-highest T20 run scorer at the venue, but his runs have also come at an average of 40.67, which is excellent. Teammate Leus du Plooy is not far behind in terms of runs scored at the venue. He has scored 33 fewer runs than Du Plessis, but with an average of 56.88, his numbers are even better than his captains.
JSK are starting to look top-heavy. In short, their top four batters – Du Plessis, Devon Conway, Du Plooy and Jonny Bairstow look excellent, but once you get them out, JSK have struggled.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape
We have said it before and we will say it again, momentum is such a critical factor in tournaments like SA20. SEC have that momentum on their side now.
Marco Jansen and Aiden Markram continue to be the shining lights for SEC. Jansen was in the wickets again on Friday as he earned himself another man-of-the-match award. While he is top of the list of wicket-takers, the SEC are the completely dominant bowling team. Jansen tops the list with 12 wickets, Richard Gleeson is second with 11, Liam Dawson, who only bowled one over on Friday is fourth while Ottniel Baartman is sixth. It is a very impressive showing from the SEC attack.
Zak Crawley’s troubles with the bat continued on Friday as he was dismissed first ball for a duck. He was granted a reprieve when it was discovered that the wicket was from a no-ball, but he still couldn’t make the chance count as he was dismissed a few balls later for six. He now has 88 runs in the tournament at an average of 12.57.
Crawley’s opening partner David Bedingham came good on Friday as he banged a quickfire 37 runs. Tristan Stubbs also found some degree of form as he ended undefeated on 35 from 22.
Aiden Markram is currently the tournament’s second-highest run scorer with 243 runs at an average of 48.6. Do not be surprised if he scores big again – he has an excellent international record at the Wanderers.
Verdict: Joburg Super Kings
This is going to be a close one. As much as SEC have the momentum, JSK have the desperation to stay clear of the bottom two. Back at home and with their top four starting to find form, it could be time for SECs run to end.
