SA20 2023: South Africa’s top-tier league to offer INR 33.5 crore prize money

The inaugural SA20 season is set to offer a total prize money of 70 million rand (Rs 33.5 crore approx.) which is the biggest purse in the history of South African franchise cricket. The top-tier league is scheduled to commence on January 10 and will conclude on February 11 in 2023. 

Cricket South Africa have announced the participation of six teams taking part in the league as all sides are backed by Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise owners. In order to ‘break barriers’ in the different facets of the league, the management has announced a record amount of prize money to be offered on the table for the winning side. 

“We have worked hard to offer a rewarding and unprecedented incentive in the first season of Betway SA20. This is a first for South African cricket, we have never had this type of competitive incentive in our domestic cricket and it is a further indication of SA20’s ambitions to positively impact South African cricket,” told SA20 League Commissioner, Graeme Smith in a statement.

SA20 to feature 33 matches 

The six teams in the fray for the coveted title are MI Cape Town, Paarl Royals, Johannesburg Super Kings, Pretoria Capitals, Durban's Super Giants, and Sunrisers Eastern Cape. MI Cape Town and Paarl Royals will kickstart the season as they play the first match of the inaugural season. 

A total of 33 matches is to be played which runs from January 10 to February 11. Furthermore, each team will play the other twice in a double round robin fashion followed by the elimination rounds. 

Two semi-finals and the final will be the format instead of a regular playoff structure like the one followed in the IPL. The agenda of the league is to help the youngsters garner experience playing alongside the high-profile players and help improve the standard of cricket in the national side.