Cream rises to the top as SA20 joins elite T20 leagues

With just the two top teams remaining and preparing to play the final on Saturday afternoon, the inaugural SA20 has been a spectacular success and all signs point to it becoming one of the elite franchise leagues in world cricket.

T20 leagues stand or fall on the quality of players and action they showcase, and the SA20 has certainly been enthralling. The two finalists, the Pretoria Capitals and Sunrisers Eastern Cape, will also provide a pleasing conclusion to the tournament.

Capitals and Sunrisers

Pretoria have been the powerhouse side that has rampaged through the tournament playing aggressively with bat and ball, but showing plenty of composure and character as well. The Sunrisers’ progress to the final has been even more of a triumph of spirit, given some of the impressive wins they have pulled off with a squad that has a couple of big names and then tremendously wholehearted performers around them.

Read more: Pretoria Capitals beat Royals, qualify for SA20 final

Interestingly, both finalists also boast the most experienced coaches at the helm in Graham Ford (Pretoria) and Adrian Birrell (Eastern Cape), both 62 years old and born less than a month apart in Pietermaritzburg and Grahamstown respectively. The roles both played with the Proteas back in the day may have been forgotten, but they have shown why they both command such respect on the international stage.

The cream has well-and-truly risen to the top with Jos Buttler (391), Faf du Plessis (369 and ruing two successive first-ball ducks), Heinrich Klaasen (363), Aiden Markram (340) and Quinton de Kock (271) being the leading run-scorers, and Will Jacks – surely a star of the future – hot on their heels with 270 runs in just seven innings.

If Pretoria Capitals win the title then Anrich Nortje will surely be the Player of the Season. This summer he has confirmed himself as being in the very top echelon of current fast bowlers and his SA20 form has been phenomenal: Not only has he taken 18 wickets in 10 matches, but he has conceded just 6.28 runs-per-over.

Crowds

It has been wonderful to see two young fast bowlers in Gerald Coetzee and Eathan Bosch come through as well, while Bjorn Fortuin has shown he belongs at international level too.

Roelof van der Merwe, not wanted by the Proteas and now playing for the Netherlands, has shown he is a world-class bowler and fighter.

Crowds around the country have flocked to watch the games, all 33 of them, and it was telling that those watching the semi-final at Centurion on Thursday night were feeling a lot better about life than those unfortunate souls following the ruinous State of the Nation address in our shambolic parliament.

Not only has the cricket been of high quality, but there have been plenty of entertainment options at the matches and logistics seem to have gone off seamlessly.

Smith’s responsibility

It has, of course, been former Proteas captain Graeme Smith’s responsibility to pull all this off, and he has certainly burnished his already impressive reputation as one of this country’s great cricketing leaders. SA20 was meant to turn Cricket South Africa’s fortunes around and it has certainly done that in terms of passion returning to the game and the financial benefits already look promising as well.

Congratulations to Graeme and his hardworking team.

Changes in 2024

Smith has already confirmed that accommodation will be made in the second season for the top two teams on the log to be rewarded through a playoff game between them that will see the winners advance directly to the final, and the losers still having another bite at the cherry with a knockout match against the winners of a playoff between the third and fourth teams in the standings.

The logistics of allowing the top-ranked team to host the final are a challenge, unless the length of the tournament is further extended.

SuperSport and Viacom have also done an excellent job in popularising the tournament globally, and more and more top international players will surely want to find a home, at least for a month, in the SA20.