The recently concluded SA20 has received rave reviews following a successful and enthralling second edition, which culminated in an exciting final between the Sunrisers Eastern Cape and the Durban Super Giants.
The Sunrisers secured back-to-back titles with an empathic 89-run victory over the Super Giants in the final played in front of a sold-out Newlands last weekend.
SA20 commissioner Graeme Smith was delighted the competition not only matched the hype of the previous edition but also set the bar higher for the next campaign. Smith was impressed with the new records set this past season, especially on the batting front where MI Cape Town’s Ryan Rickelton broke the 500-run barrier for the first time.
“The numbers are up commercially, broadcast viewership numbers are up. Building into the season a lot of people were saying, ‘Were we a one-hit wonder?’ No, we’re not, we’ve established ourselves that this is a very strong league now,” he said.
Among the top performers this season was Proteas star batman Heinrich Klaasen, who scored a total of 447 runs with a high score of 85 to guide the Super Giants to the final.
The explosive right-hander was deservedly named the Player of the Season and Batter of the Season, having terrorised just about every bowler he faced.
Sunrisers pair Marco Jansen and Ottniel Baartman were named Rising Star and Bowler of the Season, respectively, while their entire team walked away with the Spirit of Cricket award.
The season, though, started under a cloud of controversy after it clashed with the Proteas’ Test tour of New Zealand, which meant coach Shukri Conrad could not pick his best players.
Conrad was forced to take a severely weakened team to the Land of the Long White Cloud, where they were humbled in the first test before putting on a better fight in the second.
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