Global stars to make SA 20 debuts this year

A new year has arrived, meaning the start of Betway SA20 Season 3 – and a chance to see the six teams’ first-timers in action – is just 9 days away.

By the time the action gets underway, with a mouthwatering clash between back-to-back champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape and playoffs-shy MI Cape Town, 33 new League first-timers will be settling in at the six teams… ready to entertain the fans during an incredible month of T20 cricket.

Back-to-back champions, Sunrisers Eastern Cape have signed up five new-to-SA20 players in their squad as they look to go for an unprecedented three-peat of titles.

Proteas Test batter David Bedingham will serve as Wildcard, while England Test opener Zak Crawley is in SA aiming to show ‘Bazball’ works in white-ball cricket too. Locals, pace bowler Okuhle Cele and Rookie wicketkeeper-batter Daniel Smith, will have some experienced campaigners to learn from including English allrounder Craig Overton who will hope to hit the ground the running after missing Season 2 through injury.

MI Cape Town, meanwhile, will be desperate for their new faces to make a big impact as they look to finally crack the playoffs,

That adds to the pressure for the likes of New Zealand legend Trent Boult, Rookie fast bowler Tristan Luus, Afghanistan allrounder Azmatullah Omarzai and veteran spinner Dane Piedt. Boult will undoubtedly slot straight into the Robin Peterson’s playing XI to spearhead the attack with Kagiso Rabada, while Ben Stokes injury has left a berth open which Omarzai will be favourite to fill – with his compatriot, returning captain Rashid Khan playing a key role n his acclimatisation. Two years after returning to South Africa, Piedt finally gets his proper ‘homecoming’ at Newlands while Luus couldn’t have asked for much more than a month alongside Boult, Rabada and high-on-confidence Corbin Bosch.

Durban’s Super Giants, the Season 2 runners-up, have made some changes to their support staff – bringing in Allan Donald for Morne Morkel as bowling coach – and also luring some star quality overseas signings alongside their Rookie, allrounder CJ King.

New Zealand batting legend, Kane Williamson is definitely the biggest name among their new faces but their can be some excitement around West Indies duo Brandon King and Shamar Joseph as well as the dependability of English swing bowler-come-lower-order batter, Chris Woakes.

DSG’s Season 3 opener will be against Pretoria Capitals, who themselves have shaken up their ‘backroom’ with South Africa-born former England batter (and current Afghanistan coach) Jonathan Trott taking over as head coach, assisted by new Proteas Women head coach, Mandla Mashimbyi.

On the playing front, Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz, the leading scorer during the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup, was an astute pre-signing to fill the the absence of Phil Salt. He’ll be joined as a first-timer by West Indies batter Evin Lewis, English batter Will Smeed, Steve Stolk who missed his chance last season while on SA U19 duty and Keagan Lion-Cachet, their Rookie wicketkeeper-batter who has made his name in university cricket.

If there’s a team who’s gone full-on ‘new’ then it’s Paarl Royals. Zimbabwean, Trevor Penney has taken over the coaching reins from Shane Bond and he will have 10 ‘newbies’ to gel into a squad that has reached the playoffs in both SA20 seasons to date.

The two big names among their new recruits are England batting legend, Joe Root, and the League’s first overseas Indian player, Dinesh Karthik. They will be the experience, while youthful exuberance will be brought by recent SA U19 stars Kwena Maphaka (now a fully-fledged senior international), Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Dewan Marais, their Rookie batter.

Rubin Hermann will hope to taste similar success as his younger brother, Sunrisers’ Jordan Hermann, while the other overseas newbies are English batter Sam Hain, Sri Lankan replacement players Dunith Wellalage and Eshan Malinga and well-travelled Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

Finally, Joburg Super Kings have decided to go with experience for Season 3 among their four SA20 first-timers. Apart from Rookie all-rounder JP King, England wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow has been-there-done-that, New Zealand opener Devon Conway will be making a homecoming and Sri Lanka’s Matheesha Pathirana (JSK’s Wildcard) may only be 22 but has an established reputation across the world.

THE SEASON 3 NEWBIES

Durban’s Super Giants: (5) Shamar Joseph (West Indies), Brandon King (West Indies), CJ King – Rookie, Kane Williamson (New Zealand), Chris Woakes (England).

Joburg Super Kings: (4) Jonny Bairstow (England), Devon Conway (New Zealand), JP King – Rookie, Matheesha Pathirana (Sri Lanka – Wildcard)

MI Cape Town: (4) Trent Boult (New Zealand), Tristan Luus – Rookie, Azmatullah Omarzai (Afghanistan), Dane Piedt.

Paarl Royals: (10) Sam Hain (England), Rubin Hermann, Dinesh Karthik (India), Eshan Malinga (Sri Lanka), Kwena Maphaka, Dewan Marais – Rookie, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Joe Root (England), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Afghanistan), Dunith Wellalage (Sri Lanka – Wildcard).

Pretoria Capitals: (5) Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Afghanistan), Evin Lewis (West Indies), Keagan Lion-Cachet – Rookie, Will Smeed (England), Steve Stolk.

Sunrisers Eastern Cape: (5) David Bedingham – Wildcard, Okuhle Cele, Zak Crawley (England), Craig Overton (England), Daniel Smith – Rookie.