Three favourites who can win the inaugural edition of SA20

South Africa kickstarted the inaugural edition of their premier T20 competition SA20 on 10^th January. The auction of the tournament which is expected to revolutionise cricket in South Africa, was concluded in September.  While teams got a chance to pick five players before the bidding, recently, franchises also got to make a wildcard pick.

The tournament is expected to be a neck-to-neck battle between the six participating franchises as all the teams have several stars in their lineup. However, there are a few teams which are already being touted as ‘favourites’ considering their strong squads on paper. On that note, let’s take a look at three teams which can win the first season of SA 20:

1 MI Cape Town

Rashid Khan (Source: Twitter)

MI Cape Town first picked five players to form a strong core unit. They hired Kagiso Rabada, Dewald Brevis, Rashid Khan, Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone. Recently, they got the services of speedster Jofra Archer as a wildcard pick. At the auctions, they picked the likes of Rassie van der Dussen and Duan Jansen to cover all bases in their squad.

MI Cape Town have enough firepower in their squad to outplay any opposition on their given day. Hence, they are one of the favourites to lift the trophy in the inaugural season.

2 Paarl Royals

David Miller (Source: Twitter)

Paarl Royals is another team which has several international stars in their lineup who are capable of winning games single-handedly for their side. They have David Miller, Jos Buttler, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, and Obed McCoy amongst others. The presence of Jason Roy and Eoin Morgan gives the side enough batting prowess to take down any bowling attack on their day.

In bowling, they have Tabraiz Shamsi who is ranked in the top 10 t20i bowlers rankings. Likes of Obed Mccoy and Lungi Ngidi give them enough options with the ball as well. Having a strong all round squad, the Royals also have a great chance at lifting the trophy at the end of the competition.

3 Durban Supergiants

Quinton De Kock (Source: Twitter)

Led by star wicketkeeper batter Quinton de Kock, Durban Supergiants have stars like Kyle Mayers, Heinrich Klaseen, Jason Holder, and Keshav Maharaj at their disposal. They have won one match out of two played so far in the tournament. They also have in their team the terrific left-arm seam bowling of Reece Topley which can pose a threat to many great batters from around the world. Despite having not too many big names in their squad, Supergiants have enough strength to take any opposition by storm which makes them another favourite to win SA20.