Visit Betway’s SA20 betting page.
What is the SA20 league?
The SA20 is a Cricket South Africa’s brand new T20 league, designed to rival global franchise leagues such as the IPL, PSL and Big Bash.
The tournament has a particularly strong link to the IPL, with several of that competition’s franchises branching out into this one.
Each team has a host of world-class talent to call upon, with South Africa stars Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, Kagiso Rabada, David Miller, Anrich Nortje and Aiden Markram headlining the six teams.
Rashid Khan, Liam Livingstone and Jos Buttler are examples of the other world-class talent on show.
When does the SA20 league start?
The SA20 runs from January 10 to February 11.
It will last for four weeks, with the six teams battling it out over 33 matches.
What is the format of the competition?
The majority of the matches are played in the group stage, where each team will play each other twice in a double round-robin format.
It begins with MI Cape Town playing Paarl Royals on January 10 and ends with Pretoria Capitals v Paarl Royals on February 7.
The teams that finish in the top four positions in the group table will then qualify for the semi-finals, with net run rate being used to separate two or more teams that finish level on points.
The team that finishes first will play the team in fourth and second will play third. Those matches will be played on Wednesday February 8 and Thursday February 9.
The winners of the two semi-finals will qualify for the final, which will be played on Saturday February 11.
How many teams are there in the SA20 league? Who owns them? What is the link between SA20 and the IPL?
The six SA20 franchises have been bought by IPL franchise owners, as reflected in the six team names.
Durban’s Super Giants are owned by RPSG Group, who also own Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL.
Joburg Super Kings are owned by India Cements, who also own Chennai Super Kings.
MI Cape Town are owned by Reliance Industries, who also own Mumbai Indians.
Paarl Royals are owned by businessman Manoj Badale, who also owns Rajasthan Royals.
Pretoria Capitals are owned by JSW Group, who also own the Delhi Capitals.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape are owned by SUN Group, who also own Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Indian sports network Viacom18 has also agreed a 10-year partnership for exclusive media rights to broadcast SA20 in India.
The Indian influence over this competition has resulted in it being known informally as a ‘mini IPL’.
It is considered a major step towards a global club structure, where players are hired by franchises to represent their teams around the world.
