Best playing 11 of SA20 2025 ft. Marco Jansen, Rashid Khan

SA20 2025 is officially in the history books. The final of the third edition of South Africa's premiere T20 league happened on February 8, where MI Cape Town defeated two-time defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape to become the champions for the first time in the competition's history.

It is pertinent to note that MI Cape Town had finished last in the points table of the first two seasons. The team owners changed the captain this year, handing the team's reins to Afghanistan's Rashid Khan. The decision proved to be a masterstroke as Rashid led MICT to the number one spot in the standings and then guided the team to the trophy.

In this listicle now, we will form a playing XI featuring the best performers from SA20 2025.

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Openers - Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Ryan Rickelton (wk)

Paarl Royals' opener Lhuan-dre Pretorius will start the innings for this team with MI Cape Town's wicketkeeper Ryan Rickelton. Pretorius ended SA20 2025 as the tournament's highest run-getter, scoring 397 runs in 12 innings at an average of 33.08.

On the other side, Ryan finished fourth on the batters' leaderboard. Opening the batting for MI Cape Town, Ryan amassed 336 runs in eight innings at an impressive average of 48, maintaining a strike rate of 178.72 as well.

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Middle Order - Rubin Hermann, Kane Williamson, Aiden Markram, Dewald Brevis and Marco Jansen

Paarl Royals' underrated star Rubin Hermann will bat at number three for this team. Rubin aggregated 333 runs in nine innings, including a magnificent 81-run knock in the Qualifier 2 match against the Sunrisers Eastern Cape.

New Zealand's veteran batter Kane Williamson was brilliant in his debut SA20 season for Durban's Super Giants. Williamson scored 233 runs in seven innings, averaging 46.60. Although his strike rate was less than 120, he scored two important fifties for the team.

Sunrisers Eastern Cape skipper Aiden Markram will bat at number five, followed by MI Cape Town's hard-hitter Dewald Brevis at number six. Markram was the top-scorer for SEC, scoring 340 runs in 13 innings. The SEC skipper also took five wickets with his off-spin. Meanwhile, Brevis scored 291 runs at a strike rate of 184.17 in just 10 innings for MICT.

SEC all-rounder Marco Jansen will provide balance to this team with his all-round skills. The left-arm pacer topped the bowlers' leaderboard by scalping 19 wickets in 13 innings. Jansen maintained a fantastic average of 18.42 with the ball. With the bat, he smashed 163 runs in 12 innings.

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Bowlers - Rashid Khan (c), Hardus Viljoen, Kagiso Rabada and Mujeeb ur Rahman

The bowling unit features two spinners and two fast bowlers. MI Cape Town skipper Rashid Khan will lead the side. As mentioned, Khan's captaincy played a massive role in MICT's title win. Besides, he also bagged 12 wickets in 10 innings at an economy rate of seven.

Khan's teammate Kagiso Rabada played only nine matches but took 12 wickets. Most importantly, the pacer maintained an economy rate of just 6.53 runs per over. Joburg Super Kings' pacer Hardus Viljoen is the second fast bowler of this team. Viljoen bagged 14 wickets in just eight SA20 2025 matches to finish as the second-highest wicket-taker of SA20 2025.

Paarl Royals' spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman completes the playing XI. Mujeeb bagged 14 wickets in 12 matches at an economy rate of 6.77 while bowling a maiden over as well.