SA20: Key players from each team to watch

The second edition of South Africa’s flagship T20 competition, the SA20, gets under way in Gqeberha on Wednesday evening when the defending champions, the Sunrisers Eastern Cape, host the Joburg Super Kings at St George’s Park.

A number of international and local star players will be in action in the competition over the next month and will be aiming to help their side lift the trophy at the end of it.

ALSO READ: Defending champs Sunrisers to get second edition of the SA20 under way

Here are the main key players looking to make their mark in the tournament, one from each team:

Sunrisers Eastern Cape: Aiden Markram

The Sunrisers EC have a number of thrilling match winning players in their line-up, but none more important than captain Aiden Markram who will be keen to lead his side to a second consecutive title.

Markram was in sublime form in the inaugural edition, producing brilliant performances, including scoring a century in the semi-final and was named player of the tournament. He followed that up with a fantastic year internationally for the Proteas and heads into the tournament in terrific form off the back of a wonderful run-a-ball century in the New Year’s Test against India.

Pretoria Capitals: Jimmy Neesham

Last season’s runners-up the Pretoria Capitals will be hoping that their New Zealand international star Jimmy Neesham is firing on all cylinders once again for his side.

Neesham is the full package, he bats, bowls and is a terrific fielder as he showed in the first edition of the competition making a number of blinding highlight reel catches.

Neesham enjoyed a pretty busy 2023 with New Zealand, including playing in the ODI World Cup in India and heads into the SA20 off some decent performances in the T20I series against Bangladesh over December.

Paarl Royals: Jos Buttler

England’s ODI captain Jos Buttler will be hoping to enjoy another superb campaign in the SA20 after impressing in last year’s inaugural edition. Buttler finished as the top run scorer in the competition after scoring 391 runs in 11 innings at an average of 39.10, hitting four half centuries with a highest score of 70.

He will be hoping for more of the same this time round, especially after a difficult 2023 with England which included a disastrous ODI World Cup. He however comes into the tournament in a bit of form having struck 39, 51 and 55 in three T20I innings against West Indies in December.

Mumbai Indians Cape Town: Kieron Pollard

Despite boasting a number of star international talents Mumbai Indians Cape Town heavily underperformed in the inaugural edition of the SA20 finishing rock bottom. They then suffered a blow before the second edition when captain Rashid Khan was ruled out through injury.

They thus made a big splash in signing West Indian superstar Kieron Pollard who steps straight into the captaincy role and he will make his debut in the competition. MI CT will hope to see his full allotment of skills that have made him a fearsome all-rounder over the years in T20 cricket.

Joburg Super Kings: Gerald Coetzee

The ‘Karate Kid’ as he is affectionately known due to his trademark headband, Gerald Coetzee has seen his stock rise considerably after an impressive 2023 and he will hope to take that into the SA20 with the Joburg Super Kings.

He started last year superbly in the inaugural edition when he was the second highest wicket taker with 17 wickets, while he was also a handy lower order slugger with the bat, before he became an integral member of the Proteas’ various squads over the rest of the year.

He enjoyed a fantastic ODI World Cup and heads into the second edition of the SA20 in terrific form and will hope to continue it for JSK.

Durban’s Super Giants: Heinrich Klaasen

Proteas batting star Heinrich Klaasen will be eager to prove a point in this season’s SA20 and will hope to make a big impact for Durban’s Super Giants.

Klaasen retired from Test cricket last week after being frustrated by the lack of game time for the Proteas since making his debut in 2019, and with him more well known in the shorter formats of the game he will want to prove his worth.

He was the fourth highest run scorer in the inaugural edition, with the second best average as he struck a century and three fifties and he will want more of the same this time round.