
The Pakistan tour is over and the action of the Betway SA20 is back with the Proteas stars and countless other big names set to features at grounds all over South Africa.
With scarcely a break, the action returns on Thursday when the defending Champions, Sunrisers Eastern Cape play host to MI Cape Town at St Georges Park.
The action will come thick and fast with a minimum of one game a day, every day from January 9 to February 2.
Heading into the tournament the Sunrisers may be the back-to-back winners, but they are not the favourites to win again.
Cape Town and the Pretoria Capitals are the most fancied sides, while bookmakers have the Paarl Royals as outsiders.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape vs MI Cape Town | SA20 Game 1 | Thursday 9 January 2025 | St Georges Park, Gqeberha | 17:30
Sunrisers Eastern Cape
On paper, the Sunrisers simply don’t look as strong as MI Cape Town. What they do have though are big stars and quality leadership.
It is no coincidence that Aiden Markram’s side have won the tournament twice.
He’s a proven leader with an excellent pedigree and he knows how to pull all the pieces together.
Aside from Markram, if Sunrisers Eastern Cape are to repeat the glories of the first two seasons, then they will need big things from Marco Jansen and Tristan Stubbs.
Along with Markram, this is a trio with genuine quality and class and the ability to perform when the chips are down.
Perhaps more than any other current Proteas, these are the three who capture the imagination of the fans.
There are a handful of other players who could play significant roles for the Gqeberha side with the England duo of Zak Crawley and Richard Gleeson as potential game changers.
Gleeson could be a masterstroke of an auction buy – he came to professional cricket very late, only getting his first county contract when he was 27 and he made his international debut at 34.
But he has a bit about him as was shown by his debut performance for England when he claimed the key wickets of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant.
Crawley, who is set to make his SA20 debut, is an interesting pick. Rated as a Test player, he has a handful of ODIs to his credit but no T20I experience.
He has played Big Bash and scored a T20 ton for Kent as well, but his record in the shortest form is not stellar.
He does have the tendency to blow hot and cold though, and if he comes off it could be special.
Look out for Ottniel Baartman with the ball, he is a canny operator with some excellent stats to prove his worth.
He averages 19.23 in T20I and 17.87 in T20, both very handy numbers, especially with a strike rate of 15 and economy rates of under eight.
In winning the tournament in 2024 Baartman was second only to Jansen as the tournament leading wicket-taker as the Sunrisers attack showed themselves to be comfortably the tournament’s best, note SA20 2024’s third highest wicket-taker was also a Sunrisers player, unfortunately for them, big Australian Daniel Worrall is not back for 2025.
To win match
92/100 Sunrisers Eastern Cape | Tie 25/1 | MI Cape Town 92/100

MI Cape Town
Last season the tournament’s top run scorer was MI Cape Town’s Ryan Rickelton. He smashed 530 runs in 10 innings with a strike-rate of 173.77 and an average of 58.89.
It was a truly exceptional effort from the opening batsman. Rickelton heads into the tournament as a man in form – his last time at bat, in the second Test against Pakistan saw him score a sensational 259 runs. But having worked his magic with the bat he never took to the field again citing a hamstring niggle as the reason for his absence. His participation in the SA20 opener is touch-and-go.
On paper the Cape side looks exceptional, with scarcely a weakness in sight. They have suffered the pre-tournament loss of the dynamic Ben Stokes but with stars in every position it is not surprising to see them listed as pre-tournament favourites.
Skippered by the wily Rashid Khan MI Cape Town have bought wisely at the auction with Reeza Hendricks a key addition to the squad. Last time out it was Rassie van der Dussen and Rickelton who opened the batting and weather they continue with this partnership and bring Hendricks in at three or they start with Reeza and move Van der Dussen to three it makes no major difference to the quality.
Corbin Bosch who announced himself at the international level in dramatic fashion in the recently completed Pakistan series joins the ranks where he will provide handy all-round options alongside Khan, George Linde and another Afghan international Azmatullah Omarzai.
Verdict: Sunrisers Eastern Cape
Winning is a habit and while it may be a new season, the men from Gqeberha have a well-established record of performing when it matters. In front of their home crowd expect them to edge this.

Durban Super Giants vs Pretoria Capitals | SA20 Game 2 | Friday 10 January 2025 | Kingsmead, Durban | 17:30
Durban Super Giants
Given the talent at their disposal, this is a team that has disappointed in previous iterations of the tournament.
With players like Heinrich Klaasen, Marcus Stoinis, Quinton de Kock, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King and Kane Williamson at the disposal of skipper Keshav Maharaj, this is a team laden with superstars.
Bookmakers have the Super Giants as third favourites to win the tournament at odds of 4 to 1.
Klaasen is a genuine T20 superstar and will be a marked man wherever he goes. In 2024 he was the tournament’s second-highest run scorer with a total of 447 runs from 13 innings at an average of 40.64.
While this is hardly a surprise, what comes as more of a shock is the fact that his teammate Matthew Breetzke was the third-highest scorer with 416 runs at an average of 32.
Like Klaasen, he is back with the Super Giants for 2025 and looking to add to his burgeoning reputation.
At 36 years old it feels like Jon-Jon Smuts has been around forever. Now a staple of the T20 circuit he has 217 games to his credit, and he remains a handy player. In 2024 he was the tournament’s eighth highest scorer.
On the bowling front, Keshav Maharaj is understated while Junior Dala is under-rated. They both boast excellent records in SA20 finishing fifth and seventh last time out on the wicket-taking charts
To win match
82/100 Durban Super Giants | Tie 25/1 | Pretoria 21/20

Pretoria Capitals
The Capitals have been hit by the late withdrawal of West Indian international Evin Lewis who was forced out of the tournament with injury.
A statement released by the side on Tuesday read: “Wishing Evin a fast and full recovery. Stay tuned for the announcement of his replacement soon.”
The Capitals ended the 2024 SA20 in fifth position. They were runners-up at the inaugural SA20 in 2023. They have been made joint-favourites to win in 2025 along with MI Cape Town.
The Pretoria outfit are a side in flux with a new captain and a new coach. Cape Town-born, former England international and current Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott has replaced former Pretoria Capitals head coach Graham Ford.
Meanwhile, T20 expert Rilee Rossouw has been named skipper, replacing Wayne Parnell.
While change is good, it sometimes takes a while for new systems and ways of doing things to take effect – it may be asking a lot for the Capitals’ new leadership team to deliver silverware immediately.
Speaking of Rilee Rossouw, he is one of the most experienced T20 players in the world with 360 games to his credit. He has amassed 9039 runs at an average of almost 30 with eight centuries and 53 fifties.
Keep an eye out for the Afghanistan wicketkeeper/batsman who is quite a special cricketer. Ranked as the 8th best ODI batsman in the world and the 14th best T20I batsman he is a player who could walk into most teams.
England allrounders Will Jacks and Liam Livingstone could be critical parts of the Capitals mix.
Both are excellent T20 cricketers with the ability to bowl important overs and score quickly.
Livingstone was ranked as the top T20I allrounder by the ICC towards the end of 2024, but he has now dropped down to third.
But that’s an indication of what he is capable of – even if he did endure a somewhat disappointing SA20 campaign last time out where he averaged just 12.11 with the bat after 10 innings and 46.33 with the ball.
Verdict: Durban Super Giants
The home side should have too much of everything in this encounter.
