While the Mpumalanga Rhinos advanced to the play-off stage of the CSA T20 Knock-Out Competition for the first time this year, it was ultimately a very stop-start campaign.

The Rhinos ended their run with a 43-run loss against the Garden Route Badgers in Oudtshoorn on November 19. After their bowlers put in a top effort, the Badgers were restricted to 152-6 in 20 overs. But continuing a trend all too common this season, the Rhinos’ batters struggled to find their feet and they were eventually bowled out for 109, bringing a frustrating T20 competition to an end.

It was a campaign that looked promising for the men in black, as they started off with a good showing with the bat against eventual runners-up, Eastern Cape Iinyathi, in a rain-interrupted season-opener. In their second match they pulled off a miraculous win against the Eastern Storm – a victory that will be remembered by many for years to come.

But a tight loss at the hands of the Knights followed by a poor showing against the Badgers, saw the Rhinos’ momentum halted somewhat. Another close victory, this time against the Limpopo Impalas, was followed by a rained-out match against the Northern Cape Heat as they finished fourth on the log.

With an overhauled play-off format for the 2025/26 T20 Knock-Out, this meant they would have to return to Oudtshoorn to take on the Badgers in the ‘eliminator’ match. They fell short in the Garden Route once more and the performance in the eliminator perfectly summed up a T20 competition where the Rhinos bowlers found more success than the batters, who were unable to consistently produce the goods.

Taking a look at indvidiual performances, Bryn Brokensha has been a revelation for the Rhinos in his first season of professional cricket. With seven wickets to his name at an average of 13.14, he was Mpumalanga’s leading wicket-taker and had the joint-sixth most wickets in the entire competition. He also had the best figures in a match across the whole competition, thanks to his five wickets for 12 runs in four overs against the Eastern Storm.

South African domestic cricket veteran Aubrey Swanepoel has also proved a valuable acquisition for the Rhinos as he had the fifth-best economy rate in the competition (5.87).

With 160 runs to his name, wicketkeeper Zakir Kathrada was the Rhinos’ top run-scorer and 10th overall for the competition. He was, however, only one of three Rhinos to score more than 100 runs in the competition and one of two Mpumalanga batters to do so at a strike rate above 100.

The Rhinos will ultimately rue their inability to consistently string together top batting performances in a season where their bowling and fielding exploits were better than the bulk of their opposition. They will now turn their focus back to the CSA 4-Day Series Division 2, having already won and lost one game prior to the T20 competition. Their next match is against the Storm from December 4 to 7.