Ranking the six SA20 2025 teams as favorites ahead of the new season

The third edition of the SA20 is set to kickstart on Thursday, January 9. The tournament will conclude with the final on Saturday, February 8. Six teams will take part in the SA20 2025 season. These are - Pretoria Capitals, Joburg Super Kings, Paarl Royals, MI Cape Town, Sunrisers Eastern Cape, and the Durban Super Giants.

The Sunrisers Eastern Cape are the defending champions, having won the SA20 2024 edition. They beat the Durban Super Giants in the final in 2024. Interestingly, they also won the inaugural edition and are two-time winners.

The Sunrisers will be keen to make it a hat-trick of titles. However, it will be interesting to see if they can defend their title, or whether the SA20 tournament will have a new winner this season.

Ahead of the tournament, let us rank the six teams from best to worst based on their squad compositions.

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Ranking the six teams from best to worst ahead of SA20 2025

#6 Paarl Royals

The Paarl Royals lost in the playoffs last season. They have put in efforts to build a potent squad this season. They have a good mix of international and local players such as Joe Root, David Miller, Dinesh Karthik, Andile Phehlukwayo, Bjorn Fortuin, and Lungi Ngidi.

While the likes of Miller and Karthil are solid finishers, they do not have enough firepower at the top of the order. The lack of power hitters at the top is one of their weak points. Further, with the likes of Kwena Maphaka and Nqabayomzi Peter, their bowling line-up appears relatively inexperienced.

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#5 Pretoria Capitals

The Pretoria Capitals have built a strong batting line-up for the SA20 2025 season. The likes of Will Jacks, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Liam Livingstone, Will Smeed, and Rilee Rossouw bring firepower to their batting.

The catch though, is that they do not have many batters who can play spin well. In contrast to their batting, the bowling line-up appears weak too. They will have to depend on the likes of Wayne Parnell and Anrish Nortje as they do not have quality overseas bowlers.

Senuran Muthusamy is the lone frontline spinner on the side as their spin attack also appears depleted.

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#4 Sunrisers Eastern Cape

Although the Sunrisers Eastern Capre are the defending champions, they seem to be lacking the edge this time around. They do have a strong batting unit. The likes of Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, and David Bedingham, along with Zak Crawley and Liam Dawson among others make their batting well-rounded.

However, the bowling is where they could fall short as the tournament progresses. Richard Gleeson is the only frontline quality pacer. While the likes of Marco Jansen and Ottneil Baartman are present, a quality lead pacer appears missing.

Additionally, Simon Harmer (35) and Roelof van der Merwe (40) are their two spinners. They lack young options in the spin department.

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#3 Joburg Super Kings

The Joburg Super Kings are among the favorites to win the SA20 2025 season. Jonny Bairstow, Devon Conway, Faf du Plessis, and Leus du Plooy are some big names in their batting unit.

In Moeen Ali, Donovan Ferreira, and David Wiese, they also have explosive and quality all-rounders. With depth and firepower in the batting, they appear a strong side. They have key pacers in their squad with the likes of Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee, Lizaad Williams, and Matheesha Pathirana. Tabraiz Shamsi, Maheesh Theekshana, and Moeen Ali are their spinners.

The Super Kings have a well-balanced squad. Burger and Williams have been ruled out and Coetzee is expected to miss a few games. However, they still have enough options and gun players on the side.

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#2 Mumbai Indians Cape Town

The Mumbai Indians Cape Town do not have a successful history in the SA20 League. However, they will look to turn things around this year. With Ryan Rickelton, Rassie van der Dussen, Reeza Hendricks, and Dewald Brevis among others, they have a potent batting line-up.

While Brevis may be the only power hitter at the top, all-rounders such as Azmatullah Omarzai and Rashid Khan also provide depth and firepower lower down the order. The likes of Trent Boult, Kagiso Rabada, and Nuwan Thushara make their pace attack among the strongest in the competition.

Rashid is the only quality spinner and while that could trouble them, they have a very well-balanced squad overall otherwise.

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#1 Durban Super Giants

The runner-up from last season will aim to go the extra mile this time around in the SA20. Matthew Breetzke, Brandon King, Jason Smith, Kane Williamson, and Quinton de Kock make their batting capable.

Further, the likes of Marcus Stoinis and Heinrich Klaasen add to their depth and are solid finishers. In Stoinis, Wiaam Mulder, Dwaine Pretorius, Chris Woakes, and JJ Smuts, they have quality all-rounders who bring flexibility to the line-up.

With Junior Dala, Keshav Maharaj, Naveen-ul-Haq, and Noor Ahmad, they have formed an exciting bowling attack. In Maharaj and Noor, they have a couple of quality spinners as well.