So we now have gone through two seasons of the SA20 and honestly, this year was so much better than last in my opinion, it feels as if all the teams are now finding their stride with their coaching staff as well as the “base” players for the franchises.

The winners again this year were the Sunrisers Eastern Cape and wow what a campaign they had towards the end of the season, they put in the hard yards to come out with the victory. I think the most impressive thing for me was that many of the top players in the different categories were mainly South African (I know it is a South African franchise, but usually in other series you get more of the overseas players standing up a little more). For Example:

The batting in the SA20 Season 2:

The top 3 run scorers were in first place, Ryan Rickelton who plays for MI Cape Town made 530 runs with an average of 53 (which is mental in T20). Second place: Heinrich Klaasen – Durban Super Giants made 447 runs at an average of 34.38, considering this guy only comes in like number 5, this is amazing (Rickelton and Breetzke open the batting for reference), he also hit the most 6’s in the tournament with a casual 37. In third place, you have Matthew Breetzke who also plays for the Durban Super Giants and made 416 runs at an average of 32. 

There were 4 hundred’s scored: The absolute standout knock for me was Kyle Verreynne – playing for the Pretoria Capitals who made 106 with a strike rate of 163.06 in a losing cause and came in to bat when his team was in dire straits, it was amazing. Then there was Jordan Hermann’s 106 at a strike rate of 117.53, he opens the batting (most of the time) for the champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape. Rassie van der Dussen, playing for my team the MI Cape Town made 104 at a strike rate of 147.75. Finally, there was Will Jacks (The first overseas player on the list) who made 101 at a blistering strike rate of 180.15.

It should be mentioned that Jos Buttler (Paarl Royals – my backup team since MICT has hurt me twice) hit the most 4s in the tournament with 44.

The bowling in the SA20 Season 2:

In the bowling department, the top 3 wicket takers were Marco Jansen with 20 wickets at an economy of 7.66. Then Ottniel Baartman took 18 wickets with an economy of 6.95 and Daniel Worrall took 17 wickets at an economy of 7.24, it must be noted that all of these bowlers play for the Sunrisers Eastern Cape, so maybe unpacking why they won again).

There were also three 5-wicket hauls – in my heart, I will always be a bowler so for someone to take 5 wickets, I know how hard that is especially in T20, where the track is made for higher scoring games and the fielding restrictions mean batsmen get their eye in earlier, but I digress – Noor Ahmed took 5 for 11. Junior Dala took 5 for 26 and Marco Jansen took 5 for 30. 

Conclusion:

I think that this edition was the best so far – I know there have only been two, but I think it will continue to grow in strength as the local young players coming through start shining more and I will say how grateful I am that we have such amazing overseas players that go to South Africa to play. 

Bring on Season 3!

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