CHENNAI: All six teams for the Season 5 of the SA20 announced their retained and pre-signed players on Wednesday. The Season 5, which begins on January 17 next year, will see several international stars like Mitchell Marsh, Joe Root, Sam Curran and Phil Salt in action. The remainder of the squads will be finalised at the Player Auction on October 7. The auction, however, will only feature 19 available slots, with most of the teams retaining the core of their squads and South Africa’s top talent.
It will be a debut season for Marsh, the Australia T20I skipper and T20 World Cup winner. The Aussie all-rounder, who played 88 T20Is so far, will represent three-time champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape. Joining him will be star wicketkeeper-batter from South Africa Quinton de Kock. Marsh is set to feature in the season opener at St George's Park in Gqeberha between Sunrisers and Pretoria Capitals. Meanwhile, his compatriot Matthew Short is expected to be his opponent in the opener.
Explosive England opener Salt returns to Capitals after playing the first two seasons. He has since added to his impressive striking repertoire, which has seen him move up to No 4 on the ICC T20I batting rankings. Season 4 power-hitter Sherfane Rutherford returns this season, reuniting with fellow big-hitter Dewald Brevis and the recently crowned Proteas T20I Player of the Year, Lungi Ngidi.
Meanwhile, Durban's Super Giants and Paarl Royals, have opted to complete their full 19-player squad rosters ahead of the upcoming Player Auction. England's newly-appointed Test captain Joe Root returns for a second spell for Royals. The dependable batter will play alongside 2025 Bowler of the Season, Ottneil Baartman and Proteas David Miller and Lhuan-dre Pretorius in the team.
England all-rounder Sam Curran will feature for DSG and is expected to spearhead the attack at Kingsmead. Curran had played the first two seasons in Cape Town. He will now call Durban home alongside Proteas captain Aiden Markram, former England captain Jos Buttler, legendary West Indies mystery spinner Sunil Narine and the explosive Heinrich Klaasen, who once again lit up the IPL with a series of blistering performances this season.
Another English all-rounder Will Jacks has been pre-signed by MI Cape Town. Jacks was brilliant for Pretoria Capitals in the first three seasons and Newlands fans will hope he maintains his form.
“Season 5 is shaping up to be our strongest yet,” SA20 League Commissioner, Graeme Smith, said. “Bringing in a player of Mitchell Marsh's calibre alongside the class of Joe Root, Sam Curran and Phil Salt shows the growing pull of our league on the global stage. What excites me most is seeing that quality sit alongside the prime of South Africa's international and domestic stars.”
Qualifier 1 and Qualifier 2 will be played on February 16 and 19 while the Eliminator will be held on February 17. The summit clash is scheduled on February 21 at Newlands.
