The inaugural SA20 is set to break barriers in every aspect of South African cricket with a record amount of prize money on offer.

The total prize purse is R70-million – the biggest in the history of South African franchise cricket.

“We have worked hard to offer a rewarding and unprecedented incentive in the first season of the SA20,” league commissioner Graeme Smith said.

“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.”

Six teams, all backed by IPL franchises, have collated world-class players and distinguished coaches, and are set to go head-to-head from 10 January at Newlands in Cape Town until the final on 11 February at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. 

MI Cape Town and the Paarl Royals are set to play the tournament’s opening match, which will feature Afghanistan superstar Rashid Khan, England’s T20 World Cup-winning captain Jos Buttler, Proteas fast bowling spearhead Kagiso Rabada, and David Miller, who lit up stadiums in the 2022 IPL.