The SA20 2024 started on January 10 and will run till February 10 in South Africa.

Featuring six teams, a total of 34 T20 matches will be played over four weeks in the second edition of SA20 - South Africa’s T20 franchise cricket tournament.

Durban’s Super Giants, Joburg Super Kings, MI Cape Town, Paarl Royals, Pretoria Capitals and Sunrisers Eastern Cape are the six teams that are competing for the SA20 2024 title.

Some of the world's leading T20 bowlers including the likes of Adil Rashid, Tabraiz Shamsi, Kagiso Rabada, Reece Topley, Sam Curran, Keshav Maharaj, Wayne Parnell and Kagiso Rabada are participating in the ongoing edition of SA20.

Sunrisers Eastern Cape’s Roelof van der Merwe and Pretoria Capitals�?Anrich Nortje finished with the most wickets in the inaugural SA20 last season. 

While Roelof van der Merwe picked up 20 wickets in 10 matches, Anrich Nortje achieved the feat in 11 games.

Meanwhile, Durban's Super Giants�?Keemo Paul took the first wicket in SA20 2024. The right-arm medium-pacer Keemo Paul dismissed MI Cape Town’s opening batter Rassie van der Dussen in the second game of the T20 tournament. Earlier, the opening fixture was washed out.

Meanwhile, talented right-arm fast bowler Lungi Ngidi was the first bowler to register a four-wicket haul in SA20 2024. Representing Paarl Royals, Lungi Ngidi recorded match-winning figures of 4/39 against Pretoria Capitals to help his side secure a 10-run victory at the SuperSport Park in Centurion.

Apart from Lungi Ngidi, the likes of Lizaad Williams, Richard Gleeson, Dwaine Pretorius and Keshav Maharaj are in contention to be the top wicket-taker in the ongoing SA20. Here’s a look at the players with most wickets in SA20 2024.

Most wickets in SA20 2024

Rank	Player	Team	Matches	Wickets
1	Marco Jansen	Sunrisers Eastern Cape	10	20
2	Ottniel Baartman	Sunrisers Eastern Cape	8	18
3	Daniel Worrall	Sunrisers Eastern Cape	11	17
4	Lizaad Williams	Joburg Super Kings	9	15
5	Keshav Maharaj	Durban's Super Giants	13	15
6	Wayne Parnell	Pretoria Capitals	8	14
7	Junior Dala	Durban's Super Giants	5	13
8	Lungi Ngidi	Paarl Royals	9	13
9	Reece Topley	Durban's Super Giants	12	13
10	Noor Ahmad	Durban's Super Giants	6	12

Photo credit: Alamy

It was a night of sheer horror for almost every pace bowler when MS Dhoni’s Chennai locked horns with Rohit Sharma’s Team Mumbai on Saturday. Right from an experienced campaigner like Trent Boult to an in-form  Deepkar Chahar, every pacer went for over eight runs per over, of course barring the Man of the Match, Kieron Pollard.

In a game where Jasprit Bumrah registered his worst ever bowling figures of his T20 career, Chennai’s Lungi Ngidi was at the receiving end of a similar carnage. The South African fast bowler ended up conceding 62 runs in four overs without picking up a single wicket.

Most runs conceded in an innings by a Chennai bowler
Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wickets	Economy	Opponent	Venue	Date
Lungi Ngidi	4	62	0	15.5	Mumbai	Delhi	1 May 2021
Mohit Sharma	4	58	0	14.5	Hyderabad	Hyderabad	2 May 2015
Sam Curran	4	58	1	14.5	Kolkata	Mumbai	21 April 2021
Palani Amarnath	4	57	1	14.2	Mumbai	Chennai	23 April 2008
Harbhajan Singh	4	57	3	14.2	Punjab	Mohali	5 May 2019

The aforementioned figure is the most runs conceded by a bowler in the 2021 Indian T20 League. Additionally, this is also the first time that a Chennai bowler - Lungi Ngidi - has given away more than 60 runs in his spell. Overall, this is the third most expensive spell by an overseas player in the Indian T20 League.

Most runs conceded by an overseas bowler in an Indian T20 League innings
Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wickets	Economy	Team	Opponent	Venue	Date
Mujeeb Ur Rahman	4	66	0	16.5	Punjab	Hyderabad	Hyderabad	29 April 2019
Michael Neser	4	62	0	15.5	Punjab	Bangalore	Mohali	6 May 2013
Lungi Ngidi	4	62	0	15.5	Chennai	Mumbai	Delhi	1 May 2021
Shane Watson	4	61	0	15.2	Bangalore	Hyderabad	Bengaluru	29 May 2016
Tim Southee	4	61	0	15.2	Bangalore	Kolkata	Bengaluru	5 April 2019

Out of the 62 runs that Ngidi conceded, a whopping 50% came off Kieron Pollard’s bat. The hard-hitting West Indies all-rounder scored 31 off just 11 balls against Ngidi and this included two fours and three sixes. Krunal Pandya scored 17 off seven while Rohit Sharma hit eight off three against the South African.

Featured photo: Twitter / IPL

An inspiring innings from Sanju Samson guided Rajasthan to a 16-run victory over Chennai on Tuesday; their eighth win over the three-time Indian T20 League champions in 22 games.

Riding on the back of a 121-run stand between captain Steve Smith and Sanju Samson, Rajasthan posted 216 on board following the final-over carnage by Jofra Archer. Chennai made a glaring start with the bat, but slumped from being 56/1 to 77/4 inside just two overs.

• Steve Smith and Sanju Samson set Twitter on fire

There were several things to take note of from the game, including Rahul Tewatia’s three-wicket haul and Faf de Plessis�?yet another majestic innings. That said, here we take a look at what we learned from Rajasthan’s first triumph over Chennai in three attempts.

Samson is Rajasthan’s trump card

While captain Steve Smith led from the front, Sanju Samson yet again delivered a performance of a lifetime, scoring a quickfire 74 off 32 deliveries which included a whopping nine sixes and a boundary. Rajasthan were 10/1 after three overs and with both Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler absent, they were in a dire need of a strong partnership to set the stage for the batsmen to come. On came Samson and opened the floodgates, scoring 78.38 percent of runs just from the boundaries.

FIFTY!

Sanju Samson on fire! He brings up a quickfire half-century off 19 deliveries #Dream11IPL #RRvCSK pic.twitter.com/wrmwCUk5B4

�?IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) September 22, 2020

Prior to this game, the 25-year-old had scored a measly 79 runs in seven innings against Chennai, with his highest being 26. He was equally impressive even with the gloves, having played part in as many as four wickets (two stumpings and as many catches).

Once Stokes and Buttler are back, all eyes will be set on Rajasthan’s famed foreign contingent, but keep an eye on Samson in the midst. Expect him to be his side’s silent assassin.

Bad day in store for Ngidi and Chawla

After an exhilarating display in the opening game, a lot was expected from pacer Lungi Ngidi and Piyush Chawla. Chawla, the 31-year-old Aligarh-born leggie, who picked his 151st Indian T20 League wicket on Saturday, becoming the third-highest wicket-taker in Indian T20 League’s history, was fairly economical against Mumbai, but all that changed on Tuesday. Chawla gave 28 runs in his first overs, that included four sixes, and his figure went up to 47 after two overs. He did scalp a wicket on the night, but that came at an expense of a hefty economy rate of 13.75.

http://t.co/ikKdSK3Ocm pic.twitter.com/tmSQmQglDX

�?Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) September 22, 2020

Ngidi, for his part, conceded runs at 9.50 against Mumbai, but a return of three wickets all but overshadowed the leak. Against Rajasthan, he not only gave away runs at 14.00 but also returned with a solitary wicket. Not to forget the last over fiasco where he conceded a whopping 30 runs; the joint-most expensive 20th over in the Indian T20 League.

Sam Curran is the real deal

It was the usual notion that Chennai would dearly miss their star all-rounder Dwayne Bravo in their opening game against Mumbai, but little did everybody know what England’s Sam Curran was about to deliver. He may have only picked a solitary wicket while conceding 28 runs against the defending champions, but his scalp came at a crucial point. With the bat, the young 22-year-old smashed 18 off just six as Chennai registered their first victory of the tournament.

On Tuesday, all eyes were on Curran and it is safe to say he didn’t disappoint. While every other bowler was hit across the park, the 22-year-old conceded 33 in his four overs, the second-best figure for Chennai on the night, and notched three wickets, that of Steve Smith, Rahul Tewatia and Riyan Parag. 

Curran showed sheer confidence even with the bat, opening his innings with a boundary and two back-to-back maximums before being dismissed in the ninth over. His judgements, especially with the bat, may not be of the highest order, but the youngster has rightfully lived up to his potential even in the pressure moments. And with Bravo still out on the nursing table, Chennai are well and truly in safe hands.

Feature image courtesy: Twitter / Rajasthan

After Chennai opened their season with a win over Mumbai, they were in for a rude awakening on Tuesday evening as Rajasthan, despite missing the services of Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes, put on a clinic to outshine their opponents by 16 runs.

A large part of their success was down to an outstanding effort with the bat from Sanju Samson, who pounded out a 32-ball 74, and Steve Smith's 69 off 47. An unlikely effort from Jofra Archer to bag 27 runs in the 20th over also helped Rajasthan sail through to the win without much trouble.

Chennai, on the other hand, failed to mount a constructive chase after such a shoddy opening innings, especially losing the plot in the middle despite a stellar effort from Faf du Plessis.

Here, we look at some of the key stats from the match:

Rajasthan's stout Powerplay

After being put to bat first and finding themselves at 11/1 in the third over, Rajasthan unideal start belied what was to come, as soon after Yashasvi Jaiswal's dismissal, Sanju Samson was brought into the mix. Samson and opener Steve Smith struck up an incredible 121-run partnership for the second wicket and laid the foundation for their side's eventual 216/7 haul.

Most runs in Powerplay by Rajasthan in UAE
Matches	Runs Scored	Wicket
Match 7, Rajasthan vs. Punjab, 20 Apr 2014	54	1
Match 4, Rajasthan vs Chennai, 22 Sep 2020	54	1
Match 19, Kolkata vs. Rajasthan, 29 Apr 2014	45	1
Match 10, Rajasthan vs. Chennai, 23 Apr 2014	38	2
Match 14, Rajasthan vs. Bangalore, 26 Apr 2014	36	2
Match 4, Hyderabad vs. Rajasthan, 18 Apr 2014	30	2

Their Powerplay score of 54 runs equalled Rajasthan's previous best UAE record set back in April 20, 2014, against Punjab.

Lungi Ngidi's expensive final over

Chennai put Lungisani Ngidi to bowl in the final over hoping to capitalise on his reputation as a death bowler of note, but given how it went for the South African, he might as well have sounded the death knell for his own side with his efforts.

Facing off against Jofra Archer and Tom Curran, Lungi's doomed innings netted Rajasthan four maximums, three extras -- two of them free strikes -- and three singles, resulting in an incredible 30-run haul! Given that Chennai ended up losing by 16 runs, averting that kind of bleeding might have made all the difference.

It ended up being the joint-most expensive 20th over in Indian T20 League history.

Most expensive 20th over in Indian T20 League
Runs	Batsman	Team	Opp	Bowler	Season
30	Hardik Pandya	Mumbai	Pune	A Dinda	2017
30	Marcus Stoinis / Anrich Nortje	Delhi	Punjab	C Jordan	2020
30	Jofra Archer / Tom Curran	Rajasthan	Chennai	L Ngidi	2020
29	Shreyas Iyer	Delhi	Kolkata	S Mavi	2018
29	Kieon Pollard / Hardikl Pandya	Mumbai	Chennai	D Bravo	2019
29	MS Dhoni / Ravindra Jadeja	Chennai	Rajasthan	J Unadkat	2019

'Maximum' effort

The smaller confines of the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, combined with a flurry of maximums throughout the evening led to tying the record (33) for most sixes in a match, which was previously set on April 25, 2018. Chennai was a factor on that day too, playing against Bangalore.

Most sixes in a match
Matches	No of 6s
Match 24, Bangalore vs. Chennai, 25 Apr 2018	33
Match 4, Rajasthan vs Chennai, 22 Sep 2020	33
Match 42, Delhi vs. Gujarat, 04 May 2017	31
Match 44, Punjab vs. Kolkata, 12 May 2018	31
Match 5, Chennai vs. Kolkata, 10 Apr 2018	31
Match 32, Chennai vs. Rajasthan, 03 Apr 2010	30

Of the 33, nine were scored by Man of the Match Sanju Samson alone, while Chennai's Faf du Plessis bagged seven, culminating in a 14^th Indian T20 League half-century for the South African. Jofra Archer, Steve Smith and Shane Watson scored joint-third most, with four.

Feature image courtesy: Twitter / Indian T20 League

Chennai have had a major setback ahead of the Indian T20 League season with the departures of Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh. For a franchise that thrives on continuity, the loss is a massive one and it compounds their problems in that most of their players are on the edge of falling out of their prime. The overseas recruits could play a massive role for them this season. Here, we identify which players are likely to be the first-choice four overseas picks for Chennai this season.

Overseas players: Josh Hazlewood, Imran Tahir, Faf du Plessis, Mitchell Santner, Dwayne Bravo, Lungi Ngidi, Sam Curran, Shane Watson.

Imran Tahir

Tahir won the purple cap last season and is one of the most sought-after T20 spinners in world cricket today. A terrific game-changer with his ability to pick up wickets, Tahir has been used pretty well by MS Dhoni in the last couple of years. In 2019, Tahir finished as the top wicket-taker with 26 scalps in the season. Tahir should enjoy the slow, low UAE conditions, similar to what he thrived in during the recent Caribbean Premier League season.

Lungi Ngidi

Lungisani Ngidi is a rather underrated T20 bowler and has developed a brilliant slower ball for the death overs, making him one of the most underrated wicket-takers in T20 cricket now. Luckily, Chennai recognises his value. In fact, with Dwayne Bravo's T20 death overs numbers on the wane, we could well see Ngidi chosen over him despite the batting potential Bravo has. Ngidi has been effective in the powerplays too and Chennai could use him in a wicket-taking role at either end of an innings, a possibility near impossible with Bravo who is a death-only bowler. This could well be the season Chennai move away from Bravo and install Ngidi in a similar role.

Shane Watson

The big match player, Shane Watson has silenced critics time and again with his outstanding batting in crunch games and will definitely continue at the top of the order for Chennai. MS Dhoni and the team's think-tank know that Watson might fail more often than not, but he does know to step up when the crisis arrives and it is that trait that will keep Watson in the team this season too. It is unlikely he will bowl, but his batting itself has added a different dimension to the Chennai batting and they are likely to continue with the same despite the difference in conditions.

Faf du Plessis

With Dwayne Bravo an unlikely starter, Chennai need more power on the batting front, and in Faf du Plessis, they have a good player of pace and spin capable of maximising the powerplay or rotating strike in the middle overs. It remains to be seen if Faf is used in a middle-order role to replace Suresh Raina or at the top alongside Shane Watson. Likely, we will see Ambati Rayudu or Ruturaj Gaikwad opening with Watson and du Plessis stepping in at No. 3 to play the Raina role. He will lend experience and stability in the position and will be a cushion for the likes of Dhoni and Jadeja coming in later.

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Indranil Mukherjee

A remark about Black Lives Matter in a Zoom press conference has made South Africa's one-day and Twenty20 international cricketer of the year Lungi Ngidi the centre of controversy echoing the country's uncomfortable recent past.

Bowler Ngidi, 24, said he believed his team-mates should make a stand the next time the squad meets.

"It's definitely something that we will discuss once we are together in person," said Ngidi.

"We have spoken about it and everyone is well aware of what's going on. It's a difficult one because we are not together, so it's hard to discuss. But once we get back to playing that is definitely something we have to address as a team."

Ngidi pointed to South Africa's history of racial discrimination which included decades of segregation across all levels of society. 

"It's something that we need to take very seriously and, like the rest of the world is doing, make a stand."

Ngidi followed up his remarks by retweeting an extract of former West Indian fast bowler Michael Holding's impassioned comments about racism at the ongoing first Test between England and the West Indies.

However, former Proteas Test players Pat Symcox and Boeta Dippenaar were among several who criticised Ngidi.

Both Symcox and Dippenaar raised the emotive issue of a recent spate of murders in which several farmers, mainly white, have been killed, sometimes in brutal circumstances.

To clear up the issue - I too support @NgidiLungi stance of eradicating all forms of racism in sport. My own grassroots work done weekly attempts to ensure all get a fair chance. I also believe that ALL Lives matter and right now Farmers are critical to us All and need support pic.twitter.com/K9epB18wAW

�?Pat Symcox (@PatSymcox77) July 9, 2020

"When Ngidi has his next meal perhaps he would rather consider supporting the farmers of South Africa who are under pressure right now. A cause worth supporting," tweeted Symcox.

- 'Leftist movement' -

Dippenaar said he believed Black Lives Matter had become a "leftist political movement."

He added: "All lives matter. If you want me to stand shoulder to shoulder with you Lungi then stand shoulder to shoulder with me with regards to farm attacks."

Symcox also praised Holding for his forthright comments on racism but that didn't prevent him and Dippenaar being castigated on social media.

Vince van der Bijl, a former fast bowler and ex-International Cricket Council umpiring chief, supported Ngidi.

"I stand alongside Lungi Ngidi in BLM," he wrote on Facebook. 

"I really believe we as cricketers have it in us to help heal these great divides in privilege, race, religion and attitudes."

South Africa one-day spin bowler Tabraiz Shamsi also tweeted his support for Ngidi.

"I am right behind you," he said.

@NgidiLungi I am right behind you boy!

You said NOTHING wrong!

Black, white or brown... NO ONE should be treated with hatred, cruelty or differently based on their skin colour#BlackLivesMatter #AllLivesMatter �?a href="http://twitter.com/hashtag/Peace?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Peace �?a href="http://twitter.com/hashtag/LungiNgidi?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#LungiNgidi

�?Tabraiz Shamsi (@shamsi90) July 9, 2020

Cricket South Africa director of cricket Graeme Smith said the organisation was discussing "various ways of handling" the race issue but said no Black Lives Matter logo would be on the shirts for a lockdown-ending three-team match on July 18 because the kits had already been printed.

Later Thursday, Cricket South Africa chief executive Jacques Faul said: “Black Lives Matter. It is as simple as that. 

In a statement, he added: "As a national sporting body representing more than 56 million South Africans and with the privileged position of owning a platform as large as we do, it is of vital importance that we use our voice to educate and listen to others on topics involving all forms of discrimination."

Faul said South African cricket's return from COVID-19 lockdown on July 18 �?late president Nelson Mandela's birthday �?would be used to spread the message of anti-racism and all forms of violence.

The statement did not refer to Ngidi by name.

Symcox tweeted later on Thursday afternoon that he supported Ngidi's stance on eradicating racism. 

His tweet included images of him working with young black cricketers, which he said he did every week. 

"My own grassroots work done weekly attempts to ensure all get a fair chance. I also believe that ALL lives matter and right now farmers are critical to us all and need support."

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Sajjad Hussain

After thumping Australia in the first ODI, courtesy some fine all-round performances from the batters and bowlers, South Africa will be confident of repeating their heroics despite a depleted squad. Debutant Kyle Verreynne and Heinrich Klaasen covered up for some of the senior guys and the Proteas managed to salvage their reputation with a win. If the senior guys too step up, South Africa might just start winning more. 

Watch out for

Lungi Ngidi - After struggling to control his line and length in the T20Is against England and Australia, Ngidi hit his straps at Paarl as he found the perfect length and variations to befuddle the Aussies. Ngidi's wicket-taking abilities make him a dangerous proposition yet again.

West Indies' big-hitters await

After losing the ODIs, West Indies will look to give hosts, Sri Lanka, some stiff competition in their preferred format - T20s. With a slew of big-hitters, the Windies pack a punch in T20s and will be a big challenge for the Lankans who are probably a tad short on power and panache. The ODIs saw them buckle the big Windies players so it might not be beyond them to stifle the Lankans.

Watch out for

Dwayne Bravo

Bravo makes his international return for West Indies after a rather long lay-off period owing to tiffs with the board. The all-rounder, though, isn't short of game time as he travels the world to play T20s. Bravo will add firepower to the batting and his death bowling will be remarkable alongside someone like Kesrick Williams. 

More Bangladesh domination awaits

They won the under-19 World Cup by beating India but the senior side is content whiplashing the Zimbabweans at home. After a big 169-run win in the first game, this week we have the second and third ODIs of the series and given how game one panned out, it is unlikely that the series will take a massive detour.

Watch out for

Mohammad Saifuddin

Liton Das hogged headlines with a scintillating hundred in the first game, but the wicket-keeper batsman's heroics overshadowed a fine showing from pacer Mohammad Saifuddin. The handy all-rounder has recovered fully from injury and showed promising signs in the first game as he dismissed two of the top three batsmen. Expect more from him this series. 

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Feature image courtesy: AFP / Rodger Bosch