SA20 2025

Measuring the ups and downs of SA20 success ft. MI Cape Town

MI Cape Town have retained only five of their players from the 2023 season
MI Cape Town have retained only five of their players from the 2023 season ©Sportzpics

What does it say about the SA20 that the team who finished last in both of the first two editions of the tournament top the table after this year's league stage? And that the runners-up from the first two competitions are at the bottom of the standings this time?

Perhaps it says you need to make changes if you want to see change.

Only five members of the Mumbai Indians Cape Town squad who collected the wooden spoon in 2023 and 2024 are also in blue this season: Delano Potgieter, Ryan Rickelton, Rassie van der Dussen, Dewald Brevis and Kagiso Rabada.

But Pretoria Capitals and Durban's Super Giants, the beaten finalists in the first two years, have retained eight players for all three editions. If you finish one more win away from the title, maybe the need for change isn't as urgent.

Sunrisers Eastern Cape, who won the first two tournaments, kept 10 of their original 18 players for the 2024 competition. But only six of them are still out there in orange: Jordan Hermann, Tristan Stubbs, Aiden Markram, Tom Abell, Marco Jansen and Ottneil Baartman.

SEC finished first in the standings last year with seven wins from their 10 league games. They haven't been as dominant in 2025, winning only half their matches - which has put them in third place. But that was exactly where they won the trophy from in 2023, when they had only four victories.

Pretoria were first with seven wins in the inaugural tournament, and fifth with three a year later. This year they are again fifth but with one fewer success.

DSG won four games to finish second from bottom in 2023 and seven in 2024, when they were second. This time, they are last with only two wins.

Might changes in captaincy tell us something definitive? No.

Pretoria were led by Wayne Parnell in the first two seasons - when they were first and fifth - and by a combination of Rilee Rossouw and Kyle Verreynne this summer. Quinton de Kock captained DSG in 2023, when they were second-last. Keshav Maharaj took over, and took his team to the final. But Maharaj also presided over the current campaign. Rashid Khan captained Cape Town in the first year but was ruled out with a back injury in 2024, when Kieron Pollard was in charge. Rashid is back this year.

At least there is a modicum of constancy to be had from the fact that the buck has stopped with Aiden Markram at SEC in all three seasons.

In head coaching terms, Adrian Birrell and Robin Peterson have been at the helm for SEC and Cape Town from 2023. Pretoria went from Graham Ford to Jonathan Trott this year.

So what could have led to such meaningful change for a side like Cape Town?

"We've added a few experienced players to the dressing-room, so there's calm and more leadership," Peterson told a press conference at Newlands on Sunday after his team completed an unbeaten run at home by thumping Pretoria by 95 runs.

"That's alongside getting Rashid back. He's been outstanding leading the boys. And guys like Rassie, Ricks [Rickelton], Dane Piedt, Colin Ingram, and Trent Boult have added a lot of stability.

"The guys want to win, they want to support each other. They understand that they take nothing for granted because a lot of them experienced pain in that dressing-room for the past two years, and they're just enjoying their cricket at the moment and being in each others' company. That's the biggest difference from the past two years."

Piedt proved Peterson's point. Having spent the first nine games on the bench, the stalwart offspinner was finally deployed on Sunday. He opened the bowling and unveiled a previously unnoticed carrom delivery that had Will Jacks caught behind with the first ball of Pretoria's innings. Piedt finished with 3 for 28, but he has been even more valuable off the field.

"Piedtie brings the energy every single game," Peterson said. "Sometimes when the boys are tired and they've traveled and they have to play the next day, the dugout is absolutely energetic because of Dane Piedt. He drags guys with him. So he's added a lot more than just taking three for 20-something today. In the whole tournament he's been one of our standout performers, even though he's played one game."

Piedt was not alone. Chris Benjamin, Thomas Kaber and Tristan Luus also played their first and only game in the tournament on Sunday.

"There's confidence in the dressing-room, and it's rubbing off on each other, including the bench," Peterson said. "You don't see the hard work that gets put in in the background. Even though some guys are not playing day in, day out, they're putting in effort.

"They're in the gym, they're in the data analysis rooms. They're at training first and they're the last to leave. So to give them all an opportunity today was something that, as a head coach, you're really pleased about because it's not only about trying to lift the trophy. It's about what we always preach about - that it's a squad effort."

Cruelly, Pretoria sent Keegan Lion-Cachet, who is in his first SA20 season, to a press conference to explain his team's poor performance in the tournament.

"Cricket is an unpredictable sport; you never know what's going to happen," Lion-Cachet said. "We've got very good players in every team, it's just a matter of who wants it more. There are always so many different things that can make a game go wrong, and unfortunately this tournament didn't go our way. We've got lots to learn. Hopefully we can improve individually and as a team next year."

What would happen now? Would Pretoria have a debrief?

"I'm not sure. I suppose everyone goes their separate ways. We'll have a team gathering after this, but I'm not the right person to ask."

Indeed, Lion-Cachet wasn't. But what were the press to do if the right people - Trott, Rossouw or Verreynne - didn't turn up.

That said, Sunday was a day for winners. Like Peterson. How much better did he feel, personally, this year compared to in 2023 and 2024?

"The owners and the management staff above me put a lot of effort into the team, so it's not only about me," Peterson said. "But we haven't achieved anything yet. There's a big week ahead."

On Tuesday, MICT and Paarl Royals will contest the first qualifier at St George's Park. The winner of that match will earn a place in the final at the Wanderers on Saturday. The losers will have another chance to reach the decider in Centurion on Thursday, when they will play the victors of Wednesday's eliminator between Joburg Super Kings and SEC in Centurion.

Weeks don't get bigger than this. MICT understand that. Long after their match on Sunday had ended, after they had taken leave of their home crowd with a lap around Newlands, and after the press conferences, they were back in the middle for a net practice.

The sun set silently behind Table Mountain as they did so. In the lengthening shadows, the crack of bat and ball said plenty about the desire to win the SA20.

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