SA20
 | |
| Countries | South Africa |
|---|---|
| Administrator | Cricket South Africa |
| Format | Twenty20 |
| First edition | 2022–23 |
| Latest edition | 2023–24 |
| Next edition | 2024–25 |
| Tournament format | Round-robin and playoffs |
| Number of teams | 6 |
| Current champion | Sunrisers Eastern Cape |
| Most successful | Sunrisers Eastern Cape |
| TV | SuperSport (South Africa) Sports18 (India) Sky Sports (England) Jio Cinema (India) (internet) Fox Sports (Australia) Willow TV(USA) |
 2023–24 SA20 | |
| Website | thesat20 |
SA20, known as the Betway SA20 for sponsorship reasons, is a Twenty20 franchise cricket tournament in South Africa, organised by Cricket South Africa (CSA) and first contested during the 2022–23 season. It is contested by six teams based in cities around the country. The first winners of the tournament were Sunrisers Eastern Cape.
History
Cricket South Africa established the franchise T20 Global League in 2017. The inaugural season was deferred by a year due to the lack of a broadcast deal and title sponsor and in June 2018 was replaced by the Mzansi Super League, a league featuring six CSA-owned teams. Both the leagues became unsuccessful. The MSL ran for only two seasons, the 2020 and 2021 editions being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
SA20 was established by CSA in 2022 through a newly formed entity, Africa Cricket Development (Pty) Limited (ACD). CSA is the majority stakeholder in ACD with a 50% share, while broadcaster SuperSport has a 30% share and former Indian Premier League (IPL) Chief Operating Officer Sundar Raman, the remaining 20%. All six of the teams were bought by franchises from the IPL. In July 2022, CSA announced that the One Day International series against Australia due to be played in January 2023 would be cancelled in order for SA20 to go ahead.
In August 2022, Graeme Smith was announced as the commissioner for the tournament. Later in the month, the marquee players for the first season were announced.
In December 2023 Cricket South Africa announced that it would send a makeshift Test team, comprising players with little or no Test cricket experience, to its scheduled two-Test tour of New Zealand in February 2024, to allow its best players to remain in South Africa to compete in the SA20. The decision was widely criticised.
Organisation
The six teams play each other twice in the group stages of the competition before the top four sides move to the semi-final stages.
Teams acquire players through an auction as opposed to a draft, making it the second cricket league in the world after the Indian Premier League to do so. Each team purchases a squad of 17 players, with the opportunity of signing up to five players prior to the auction: three international players; one South African international player; and one uncapped South African player.
Teams
The six teams are all owned by existing Indian Premier League franchise owners.
Tournament season and results
| Season | Final | No. of teams | Player of the series | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Winners | Result | Runners-up | |||
| 2022–23 | Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg | Sunrisers Eastern Cape 137/6 (16.2 overs) |
Sunrisers Eastern Cape won by 4 wickets Scorecard |
Pretoria Capitals 135 (19.3 overs) |
6 | Aiden Markram (Sunrisers Eastern Cape) |
| 2023–24 | Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town | 6 | ||||
Teams' performances
| Season | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Durban's Super Giants | 5th | |
| Joburg Super Kings | SF | |
| MI Cape Town | 6th | 6th |
| Paarl Royals | SF | |
| Pretoria Capitals | RU | 5th |
| Sunrisers Eastern Cape | C |
- C: champions
- RU: runner-up
- SF or PO: team qualified for the semi-final stage of the competition
Broadcasting
SuperSport, Sky Sports and the Sports18 network broadcast the tournament in South Africa, the United Kingdom and India respectively.
As of January 2023, Betway SA20 and Sky Sports have a five-year contract to broadcast the T20 cricket league.