Five MI Cape Town players have been named in the Aiden Markram-led 2025 SA20 Team of Season.

Opening batsman and wicketkeeper Ryan Rickelton leads the charge up front along with batsman Dewald Brevis, all-rounder George Linde and seam bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Trent Boult.

Rickelton struck 336 runs at an average of 48 and strike-rate 178.82 to pass 1,000 runs in the competition, becoming the leading run-scorer in SA20 history. He also claimed nine dismissals behind the stumps.

Brevis came of age this season, scoring 291 runs at an average of 48.5 and strike rate of 184. The 21-year-old was equally adept against pace and spin, striking at 211 against the seamers and 149 against a list of highly impressive slow bowlers.

Linde, meanwhile, was hugely impactful with the bat for MI Cape Town, averaging 40.24 and striking at 153.33. The left-arm spinner also bagged 11 wickets at 17.72 at an economy rate of 6.29.

MI Cape Town’s world-class new bowling pair of Rabada and Boult were miserly throughout the competition – boasting economy rates of 6.53 and 6.94 respectively – but kept their best performance for the final against the Sunrisers Eastern Cape. Rabada claimed 4-25 to lift his competition tally to 12 wickets, while Boult’s Player of the Final effort of 2-9 raised him to 11.

The Sunrisers and Paarl Royals each have three players to complete the XI with Joburg Super Kings all-rounder Donovan Ferreira named 12th man.

Royals’ opener Lhuan-dre Pretorius, who won the Batsman of the Season award as the leading run-scorer with 397, joins Rickelton at the top of the order. The 18-year-old struck three half-centuries, which included 47 boundaries and 16 sixes.

Former England captain Joe Root missed the playoffs due to international duty but still compiled 279 runs at an average of 55.80 and strike rate of 140.20 to slot in at No 3. He also took five wickets.

Root will be joined by fellow Royal David Miller in the middle order. The left-hander hit 234 runs at an average of 58.50 and strike-rate of 136.84.

Sunrisers captain Markram has been elected skipper of the Team of the Season for his exceptional leadership abilities that saw his team reach their third successive SA20 final. Markram also struck three half-centuries to push his run tally up to 340 – the third highest in the competition.

The Sunrisers’ contingent is headlined by the Player of the Season Marco Jansen, who also claimed the Bowler of the Season award for his 19 wickets at 18.42, and he is joined by new-ball partner Englishman Richard Gleeson to complete the XI.

The adjudication panel was composed of SuperSport commentators and select members of the media.

2025 SA20 Team of the Season – 1 Lhuan-dre Pretorius (Paarl Royals), 2 Ryan Rickelton (w/k, MI Cape Town), 3 Joe Root (Paarl Royals), 4 Aiden Markram (c, Sunrisers Eastern Cape), 5 Dewald Brevis (MI Cape Town), 6 David Miller (Paarl Royals), 7 Marco Jansen (Sunrisers Eastern Cape), 8 George Linde (MI Cape Town), 9 Kagiso Rabada (MI Cape Town), 10 Richard Gleeson (Sunrisers Eastern Cape), 11 Trent Boult (MI Cape Town). 12th man: Donovan Ferreira (Joburg Super Kings).

Photo: Arjun Singh/Sportzpics

Sunrisers Eastern Cape superstar Marco Jansen won’t have any more space on his mantelpiece before long.

Jansen is collecting awards at the conclusion of almost every competition, with the all-rounder winning both the SA20 Player of the Season and Bowler of the Season for 2025 on Saturday evening at the Wanderers.

The 24-year-old won the Rising Star Award last season and is the current CSA Men’s Player of the Year.

“All my trophies are on my TV cabinet at the moment, but no, I’m just really pleased with the awards,” Jansen told SA20.

“Yeah, obviously we didn’t win the final, but for me personally, I still feel really well about my game. I think the performances I gave [this season] were a lot more consistent.”

Jansen is certainly fully deserving of both awards. The all-rounder was excellent with the ball throughout, topping the wicket-takers charts with 19 at an average of 18.42, while he also contributed 204 runs at a strike rate of 125.1.

The satisfaction of producing these excellent results are even sweeter for Jansen after he missed virtually the entire international winter season to undergo a 12-month conditioning programme. ​

It was designed to build Jansen’s strength and fitness for him to operate at peak performance during the latter part of the summer.

“I am a bit tired, but physically I still feel good. I did have one or two niggles, but our physio helped me with that. But all in all, I still feel really strong,” Jansen said.

“It means that all the hard work I’ve put in, that off-period I had, those three months, whatever work I did, helped and contributed to this.”

Jansen’s heroics with bat and ball were not enough to drive the Sunrisers to a championship three-peat but watching the 2.06m fast bowler charge in with the new ball during the powerplay was certainly one of the highlights of the competition.

“I’m really pleased with having struck a lot in the powerplay, which is my goal or which is my job. I felt I bowled well this season,” he said.

“Obviously the new ball is probably the best chance to get a wicket because the ball is swinging, the ball is nipping, the wicket is fresh. The batters, they’re just getting in, so they have to play, they have to look at the ball, they have to see, they have to react.

“I think mentality-wise, I try to take a wicket every single ball. And then depending on whether the ball swings or not, I just try and adapt from that.

“If the ball nips, then I try to bowl a bit straighter. If the ball swings, I’ll try to bowl more full-stump lines, and then just take it from there.”

2025 SA20 award winners

Player of the Season: Marco Jansen (Sunrisers Eastern Cape)
Batsman of the Season: Lhuan-dre Pretorius (Paarl Royals)
Bowler of the Season: Marco Jansen (Sunrisers Eastern Cape)
Rising Star: Dewald Brevis (MI Cape Town)
Dispatch of the Season: Donovan Ferreira (Joburg Super Kings)
Catch of the Season: Dewald Brevis (MI Cape Town)

Photo: Sportzpics/Shaun Roy

MI Cape Town were crowned SA20 champions after defeating the two-time title winners in the Wanderers final.

Photo: Shaun Roy/Sportzpics

MI Cape Town spearhead Kagiso Rabada delivered an inspired performance with the ball to lead his team to their maiden SA20 title at a sold-out Wanderers on Saturday.

Rabada claimed 4-25 to dismiss the Sunrisers Eastern Cape for just 105 in response to MI Cape Town’s 181-8.

The fast bowler also claimed a brilliant diving catch at point to send Sunrisers skipper Aiden Markram back to the dugout at critical juncture to swing the game into MI Cape Town’s favour.

Rabada was ably supported by the MI Cape Town spinners George Linde (2-20) and Rashid Khan (1-19).

Having won the toss and elected to bat, MI Cape Town announced their intent from the outset with Ryan Rickelton racing to 33 off 15 balls (one four, four sixes) to lift his team to 51 within the first five overs.

Rickelton fell soon after, though, deceived by a slower ball from Craig Overton, and was followed shortly thereafter by Reeza Hendricks (nought) as MI Cape Town closed out the powerplay on 52-2 – the highest total conceded by the Sunrisers Eastern Cape at the six-over mark across the competition.

Rickelton also passed Durban’s Super Giants’ Heinrich Klaasen as the leading run-scorer in SA20 history with 1,012 runs across the three editions.

The Sunrisers kept chipping away with the further wicket of Rassie van der Dussen (23 off 25 balls), who fell just four runs shy of passing the competition’s leading run-scorer Lhuan-dre Pretorius.

MI Cape Town regained their composure through a couple of middle-order partnerships with the 50 runs off just 30 balls between Dewald Brevis (38 off 18 balls) and Connor Esterhuizen (39 off 26) proving pivotal in getting Robin Peterson’s team up to a winning total.

HIGHLIGHTS: SA20 final – MI Cape Town vs Sunrisers Eastern Cape

The Sunrisers needed a strong start to give them a chance, but their struggles with the bat in the powerplay continued with David Bedingham and Jordan Hermann both back in the dugout with only eight runs on the board.

Abell and Tony de Zorzi battled hard to rebuild the innings with a 57-run partnership for the third wicket.

But they fell within three runs of each other to Linde and Rashid respectively to leave the Sunrisers precariously placed on 68-4.

And when Markram followed shortly afterwards, the Sunrisers’ reign as two-time SA20 champions was drawing to a close with Rabada providing the coup de grace for MI Cape Town.

Photo: Ron Gaunt/Sportzpics

MI Cape Town cruised to a 76-run win against defending champions the Sunrisers Eastern Cape.

The 2025 SA20 is set for an epic conclusion with double defending champions the Sunrisers Eastern Cape and MI Cape Town meeting in the final on Saturday.

The iconic Wanderers in Johannesburg, which hosted the inaugural SA20 final, will once again provide the backdrop for the grand occasion, which is set to get underway at 5:30pm.

The Sunrisers have recovered from inconsistent performances during the league stage to hit peak form during the playoffs by winning both the eliminator playoff and second qualifier playoff to secure their third successive place in the SA20 showpiece.

MI Cape Town will be tasting the rarefied finals air for the first time after being the dominant side during the league stage with Rashid Khan’s team setting a new record of 35 points.

They maintained that momentum through to the first playoff qualifier where they breezed past the Paarl Royals on Tuesday to secure a straight passage to the final.

The Sunrisers have the benefit of having experienced the unique Bullring atmosphere before, when they lifted the SA20 trophy for the first time back in 2023.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Sunrisers captain Aiden Markram said. “Apparently it’s been sold out weeks ago already, so already the hype will be there. For players, that’s really cool. Not just myself, I think all the boys are really keen.

“We love playing in front of full stadiums and the atmosphere at Wanderers when it’s full is almost like no other. I’m looking forward to that. It’s always a special occasion – a final at Wanderers.”

MI Cape Town will be hoping to halt the Sunrisers’ bid to win a hat-trick of titles with captain Rashid Khan believing their amazing journey that started from the very bottom is destined to end in success.

“We were the team at the bottom for two years, now we’re the team at the top,” Rashid said. “We have been playing some amazing cricket for the last month.

“Yes, they have a good experience being finalists the last three years, but I think for us, we’ll be just focusing on playing good cricket and focusing on what we did great in the last month that got us here.

“The best thing is to beat the opposition team with your own skills, make sure whatever the challenge is, we accept that and do well in that.”

The final is shaping up as a battle between the MI Cape Town’s batting unit up against the potent Sunrisers Eastern Cape bowling attack.

MI Cape Town’s explosive opening pair of Rassie van der Dussen (second with 370 runs) and Ryan Rickelton (fourth with 303 runs) along with Dewald Brevis (ninth with 253 runs) are all among the top 10 run-getters in the competition.

The Sunrisers, meanwhile, have four bowlers in Marco Jansen (first with 17 wickets), Liam Dawson (fifth with 12 wickets), Richard Gleeson (seventh with 12 wickets ) and Ottneil Baartman (eighth with 11 wickets) among the top 10 wicket-takers.

“We’ll back our best options, our best bowlers, match-ups and things like that, and hopefully that can work and give us a shot at breaking that partnership,” Markram said. “But they’ve been finding ways to score big, whether the two of them fire or not.

“So, the whole batting lineup for them is doing really well and we’ll have to do some good planning for them. And ultimately on the night, if we can execute it, then I think we give ourselves a good shot.”

Photo: Shaun Roy/Sportzpics

The SA20 celebrated its 100th match on Wednesday. League commissioner Graeme Smith reflects on how far they’ve come.

Photo: Alet Pretorius/Sportzpics

Tony de Zorzi and Jordan Hermann helped back-to-back SA20 champions the Sunrisers Eastern Cape qualify for a third successive final.

Photo: Shaun Roy/Sportzpics

Tony de Zorzi and Jordan Hermann propelled the Sunrisers Eastern Cape into their third successive SA20 final to maintain their push for a hat-trick of titles.

The Sunrisers’ top order finally found their rhythm with De Zorzi, having only joined the franchise late into their campaign as a replacement for the injured Patrick Kruger, delivering an innings to remember on a balmy night in Centurion.

The Proteas batsman showed his international class with a stroke-filled 78 off just 49 balls (11 fours, two sixes) that helped the Sunrisers cruise past the Royals’ 175-4 with eight wickets to spare.

“It’s very, very cool. It hasn’t set in yet. I am really grateful to [Sunrisers captain] Aiden [Markram] for giving me this opportunity,” De Zorzi said.

“It wasn’t warranted but I am glad I could repay. I was a bit surprised I was playing but really happy that I got a chance.”

Fellow left-hander Jordan Hermann played his part to perfection during the superb 111-run partnership for the second wicket with De Zorzi that broke both the back of the run chase and the Royals’ spirits.

Hermann completed the job in style finishing unbeaten on 69 off 48 balls (four fours, four sixes).

HIGHLIGHTS: Paarl Royals vs Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SA20)

“Another good night. We are getting there, happy to restrict them. Good to see guys firing, all coming into place now,” said Markram. “It’s a big lift for the guys. It’s nice for them to experience this on such a good big stage.”

It certainly was a special night for the Hermann brothers with Rubin Hermann earlier setting up the Royals’ innings with 81* off 53 balls.

Rubin batted superbly in tandem with the competition’s leading-run Lhuan-dre Pretorius (59 off 41 balls) as the pair added 99 runs off 64 balls for the second Royals wicket.

It was Pretorius’ third half-century of the competition.

The Royals were provided further impetus towards the backend of their innings by a swashbuckling Andile Phehlukwayo (22* off 11 balls).

But the night belonged to the men in orange as they booked their now perennial place in the SA20 final.

“We lost the last four games but really proud of the unit,” said Royals captain David Miller. “We had some really outstanding performances. We had great team spirit. A sad situation to end like this but it is what it is. All the best to Sunrisers.”

Photo: Shaun Roy/Sportzpics

The Sunrisers Eastern Cape beat the Paarl Royals by eight wickets in the second qualifier playoff in Centurion.