Ryan Rickelton of MI Cape Town got over 500 words Season 2 of the SA20 League: Picture: Arjun Singh / SA20 / Sportzpics
The SA20 has once again thrilled for the past 30 days. Here, Zaahier Adams takes a closer look at the highs and lows of season 2.
Runs, runs and more runs. It certainly overflowed in season 2 with Ryan Rickelton breaking the magical 500-run barrier for the first time. Heinrich Klaasen (447), Matthew Breetzke (416) and Jos Buttler (408) also passed 400 runs for the first time.
The newly-formulated play-off structure allowed for an extra match to be played with the normal semi-finals being replaced with Qualifier 1, Eliminator and Qualifier 2.
That wasn’t so much the problem, but rather the fact that the staging of Qualifier 1 between the top teams on the log was predetermined to be played at Newlands instead of at the grounds of one of the competing teams. The poor turnout for basically the dress rehearsal for the eventual final was not a pretty sight.
The Sunrisers Eastern Cape are the undisputed kings of SA20, having now claimed back-to-back triumphs.
Unlike their surprise win in season 1, this was an utterly dominant performance throughout, which was capped by their brilliant all-round performance in the final. They also boast the best home crowd in the country with the St George’s Park brass band creating a unique atmosphere.
MI Cape Town, the “schelebs” of SA20, floundered for a second successive season. Despite boasting some of the biggest names in the world game, and even bolstering their squad with West Indies T20 legend Kieron Pollard this season, they once again failed to make the play-offs.
In fact, they finished stone last again. The Mumbai Indians franchise is familiar with success and it will be interesting to see if they show patience with this group of players or execute a clear-out.
SA20 keeps introducing the game to new audiences through creative social media campaigns.
It is innovative and funky and gets people engaging with the game like never before.
Cricket South Africa could really take a few lessons on board in terms of how to get bums on seats, as SA20 has shown that it is able to bring fans into the stadiums – regardless of race, gender and age.
@ZaahierAdams