The third season of South Africa’s SA20 has come to a close. The league stage finished on Sunday, and now the playoffs will take centre stage.
After a hard-fought season, four teams have qualified for the SA20 2025 knockouts, which will start on February 4.
With that, let’s take a look at the schedule for the SA20 2025 season, including teams and venues.
SA20 2025: Journey to the Playoffs
MI Cape Town: After finishing the last two seasons at the bottom of the table, MI Cape Town (MICT) topped the standings to storm into the SA20 2025 playoffs. They won seven out of their 10 matches to end up with 35 points, including seven bonus points. MICT only lost against Joburg Super Kings (JSK) and Paarl Royals (PR), against whom they will play Qualifier 1.
Paarl Royals: The Royals also won seven league games like MICT. But they ended up in the second spot with 28 points while not getting any bonus points. Paarl Royals won seven of their first eight games but lost steam in their last two matches. If it wasn’t for the dominant show earlier in the league, they wouldn’t have made it this far.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape: The Sunrisers have yet again made it to the SA20 playoffs. This will be their third consecutive appearance, having won the league in the first two seasons. The defending champions had a horrible start to the campaign, losing their first three matches. But then they bounced back to win five out of the remaining seven games and seal the third spot with 24 points.
Joburg Super Kings: Led by Faf du Plessis, Joburg Super Kings have also made it to their third consecutive knockouts in SA20. This has been a topsy-turvy campaign for the Super Kings, winning only four of their 10 games. They started off with two victories only to lose three matches on the trot and found wins in between their couple of losses. JSK finished with 19 points, including bonus points, from the four wins.
Read Also:- SA20 2025 Points Table
SA20 2025 Playoffs: Squads
MI Cape Town
Rashid Khan (c), Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult, Azmatullah Omarzai, Dewald Brevis, Ryan Rickelton, George Linde, Nuwan Thushara, Connor Esterhuizen, Delano Potgieter, Rassie van der Dussen, Thomas Kaber, Chris Benjamin, Corbin Bosch, Reeza Hendricks, Colin Ingram, Dane Piedt, Tristan Luus, Matthew Potts
Paarl Royals
David Miller (c), Mujeeb Ur-Rahman, Sam Hain, Dinesh Karthik, Kwena Maphaka, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Bjorn Fortuin, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Van Buuren, Keith Dudgeon, Nqaba Peter, Andile Phehlukwayo, Codi Yusuf, John Turner, Dayyaan Galiem, Jacob Bethell, Rubin Hermann, Dewan Marais, Eshan Malinga, Dewan Marais, Mitchell Owen, Dunith Wellalage
Sunrisers Eastern Cape
Aiden Markram (c), Zak Crawley, Roelof van der Merwe, Liam Dawson, Ottneil Baartman, Marco Jansen, Beyers Swanepoel, Caleb Seleka, Tristan Stubbs, Jordan Hermann, Patrick Kruger, Craig Overton, Tom Abell, Simon Harmer, Andile Simelane, David Bedingham, Okuhle Cele, Richard Gleeson, Daniel Smith, Tony de Zorzi
Joburg Super Kings
Faf Du Plessis (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Maheesh Theekshana, Devon Conway, Gerald Coetzee, David Wiese, Leus Du Plooy, Lizaad Williams, Nandre Burger, Donovan Ferreira, Imran Tahir, Sibonelo Makhanya, Tabraiz Shamsi, Doug Bracewell, Wihan Lubbe, Evan Jones, JP King, Beuran Hendricks, Matheesha Pathirana, Hardus Viljoen
SA20 2025 Playoffs: Schedule, Dates, Venues
| Date | Match | Venue | Time (IST) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 4 | Qualifier 1: MI Cape Town vs Paarl Royals | Gqeberha | 9:00 PM |
| Feb 5 | Eliminator: Sunrisers Eastern Cape vs Joburg Super Kings | Centurion | 9:00 PM |
| Feb 6 | Qualifier 2: Eliminator Winner vs Qualifier 1 Loser | Centurion | 9:00 PM |
| Feb 8 | Final: Qualifier 1 Winner vs Qualifier 2 Winner | Johannesburg | 9:00 PM |
Read Also:- International League T20 Points Table
SA20 2025: MICT vs PR | Qualifier 1 Preview
After enduring two poor seasons, MICT finally got it right to qualify for their first-ever playoffs in SA20. On the other hand, the Royals have made it to their third knockouts.
Both teams were quite dominant in the league stage, thanks to their batters. MICT’s Rassie van der Dussen is the leading run-getter with 330 runs in nine innings. And the Royals’ young sensation Lhuan-dre Pretorius follows him with 323 runs in 10 outings.
Joe Root (279) and Rubin Herman (250) have supported the youngster well, though PR will miss Root’s services in the playoffs. Ryan Rickleton (259), Reeza Hendricks (212), and Dewald Brevis (209) have batted well collectively for Cape Town.
On the bowling front, spinners from either side have enjoyed their time this season. Mujeeb Ur Rahman is the Royals wicket-taker with 14 scalps, while Bjorn Fortuin is their second-best bowler with 10 victims. For MICT, skipper Rashid Khan has led from the front, taking nine wickets, with George Linde and Corbin Bosch supporting him with eight scalps each.
With the best performers on their sides, MICT and PR will be keen to make it to their first-ever final. They will square off in Qualifier 1 on February 4 in Gqeberha.
SA20 2025: SEC vs JSK | Eliminator Preview
In the Eliminator that will follow the next day, double SA20 champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape will take on Joburg Super Kings. Like true champions, the Sunrisers have qualified for yet another playoff and will look to make it three in three.
But it won’t be easy for them, as JSK will challenge them for a spot in Qualifier 2. The Super Kings are riding on the back of a stellar batting performance from their skipper.
Faf du Plessis has amassed 267 runs from nine innings, while Devon Conway is JSK’s second-highest run-scorer with 242 runs. Du Plessis’ counterpart Aiden Markram is also in good touch, having accrued 261 runs for the Sunrisers.
As far as the bowling is concerned, Marco Jansen leads the wicket chart this season. The tall pacer has racked up 15 wickets for SEC, with Richard Gleeson (12) and Liam Dawson (10) accompanying him well.
JSK also have competent bowlers, with Hardus Viljoen leading the pack with 12 wickets. Lutho Simpala has been equally effective, taking the same number of scalps.
The two well-placed teams will play the Eliminator on February 5 in Centurion. JSK will aim to stop SEC’s trophy run.
SA20 2025: Qualifier 2 Preview
The loser between MICT and PR will enter Qualifier 2, while the Eliminator winner will face them. Qualifier 2 will take place on February 6 in Centurion. The winner between them will proceed ahead to the summit clash.
SA20 2025: Final Preview
The winners of both Qualifiers will be up against each other in the grand final. The third season will wrap up on February 8, with Johannesburg hosting the ultimate clash.
You can watch the SA20 2025 playoffs on Star Sports 2, Sports18 2, and Disney+ Hotstar.
