The SA20 returns – what is it and how does it work?

The SA20, South Africa's franchise T20 league, returns on Thursday, 9 January for its third edition.

The tournament, which was established in 2022, is South Africa's equivalent of the Big Bash or Indian Premier League and features some of South Africa's and the world's biggest cricketing names.

There are six teams involved, with all of them owned by IPL franchises. The teams are: Durban's Super Giants, Joburg Super Kings, MI Cape Town, Paarl Royals, Pretoria Capitals, Sunrisers Eastern Cape.

The tournament begins with Sunrisers Eastern Cape, who have won the first two editions, taking on MI Cape Town in Gqeberha. It runs for four weeks and concludes on Saturday, 8 February.

The teams will play each other twice in the group stage, with the top four progressing to the play-offs. They work as follows:

4 February: Qualifier 1 - first v second

5 February: Eliminator - third v fourth

6 February: Qualifier 2 - loser of Qualifier 1 v winner of Eliminator

8 February: Final - winner of Qualifier 1 v winner of Qualifier 2