Betway SA20 Season 4 opening week has delivered an extravaganza of high-quality cricket and entertainment.
Fans have streamed through the turnstiles all around the country with seven sold out matches creating the unique Betway SA20 vibes.
It all lit up in a blaze of excitement in an exhilarating Season 4 opener at Newlands when defending champions MI Cape Town and Durban’s Super Giants delivered a run-fest that saw a cumulative total of 449 runs, which included 25 sixes and 40 boundaries, scored on the night.
Durban’s Super Giants’ 232/5 eclipsed Sunrisers Eastern Cape’s 204/3 in the 2024 Final as the highest score at Newlands and proved too much despite the League’s highest-ever run-scorer Ryan Rickelton kickstarting Season 4 with a marvellous 113 off 65 balls for MI Cape Town.
There were no individual centuries scored in the entire Betway SA20 Season 3.
Read More : SA20 Match Highlights: Pooran and Smith power MI Cape Town to dramatic first win of the season
It has been a week of many firsts with the Wanderers hosting a maiden Betway SA20 Super Over when Joburg Super Kings and Durban’s Super Giants played to a thrilling high-scoring tie on New Year’s Day.
JSK ultimately went on to win the contest with Rilee Rossouw clubbing Noor Ahmad for two boundaries to send a packed Bullring into a state of delirium.
The Betway SA20 derbies have also delivered a unique set of results with Joburg Super Kings beating their Jukskei River rivals, Pretoria Capitals, on their own Centurion patch for the first time in four seasons.
This has been followed by Paarl Royals painting the Western Cape pink by executing the double over neighbours, MI Cape Town, winning both at Boland Park and for the first time ever at Newlands.
Two-times champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape have also enjoyed their best-ever start to the competition after they comprehensively won their opening two matches - both with bonus points - against Paarl Royals and Pretoria Capitals respectively.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape allrounder Marco Jansen and his former new-ball partner Ottneil Baartman, who is now with Paarl Royals, also became the first bowlers in the Betway SA20 history to pass the 50-wicket milestone.
Baartman is again leading the competition’s bowling charts with 11 wickets already in only four matches.
Despite MI Cape Town’s disappointing results thus far, the defending champions still boast the leading run-scorer in Rickelton with 199 runs at an average of 49.75.
But the excitement does not stop on the pitch; fans have actively engaged in the action as well.
Six lucky fans have already grabbed a one-handed catch to claim their share of the Betway Catch R2 million giveaway.
