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Kyle Simmonds Crowned Overall Division 1 SACA MVP

The 2025/26 domestic cricket season concludes with Western Province all-rounder Kyle Simmonds named Division 1 Overall SACA MVP. Simmonds earned…

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Liam Alder Named Overall SACA MVP for Domestic Division 2

Following the completion of all domestic fixtures, Liam Alder of the Garden Route Badgers finished at the top of the…

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TWELVE YEARS OF RESEARCH-BASED PLAYER SERVICE

Over the past 12 years, the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) has cemented its dedication to evidence-based practice through a…

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ROCKS KEEP THEIR HOPES ALIVE

Faf du Plessis struck his fourth half-century of the Mzansi Super League season to keep alive the Paarl Rocks’ hopes of reaching the playoffs with a key six-wicket victory over the Jozi Stars at Bidvest Wanderers Stadium on Sunday.

There was also a perfectly weighted unbeaten 71 (55 balls, 5 fours, 1 six) from Man of the Match Grant Thomson that anchored the innings of the visitors as they chased down a 171-victory target with three deliveries to spare in Johannesburg.

Kerwin Mungroo was their unlikely hero with the ball as the lanky fast bowler grabbed a rare chance in the competition by bowling out of his skin to claim three for 29, which included the key wickets of Chris Gayle, Reeza Hendricks and Pite van Biljon.

Victory in the end for the Paarl side enabled them to climb fourth on the table, with 17 points from nine games, four behind the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants, who they will now host in a virtual shootout on Wednesday.

The Tshwane Spartans (16 points) can still catch both, but they will need to also win their remaining two games to change the order on the standings.

Defeat for the second-placed Stars, meanwhile, assured the Cape Town Blitz an automatic ticket to a home final next Sunday, with the Stars staying second on 24 points and still having some work to do in their final match against the Spartans on Tuesday.

The Jozi stars, though, will no doubt be disappointed that they did not seal their playoff berth in front of their home fans, after posting a solid 170 for six after they were put into bat first.

Their innings was built around Rassie van der Dussen’s enterprising 83 (55 balls, 6 fours, 4 sixes). This after Mungroo pegged them back at the start by dismissing Hendricks (5) and West Indian superstar Gayle (9) inside the opening 3.2 overs.

A 73-run stand between Van der Dussen and captain Dane Vilas (23) dragged the home side back into a good position, before more quick wickets threatened to derail their innings.

But support for their main batsman came through Dwaine Pretorius (28) as they set a challenging total.

The Rocks’ innings followed a similar pattern with Duanne Olivier (3/30) claiming the early wickets of Cameron Delport (15) Aiden Markram (3), leaving them on 19 for two.

However, a key 120-run stand between Du Plessis, who made 61 off 34 balls (7 fours, 2 sixes), took them too far ahead for the Stars to bring them back, even after the skipper fell, 17 not out by Dwayne Bravo helping to carry them over the line.

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MZANSI SUPER LEAGUE ANNOUNCES FINALISED T20 SQUADS

The inaugural Mzansi Super League (MSL) T20 Player Draft was held today at Montecasino in Johannesburg today.

Each team had already been allocated a Marquee Standard Bank Protea player. Today the teams made their picks from the six International Marquee Players and then filled the remaining 14 places in each squad from the foreign and South African players who had applied to enter the draft.

In the mini-round to select the International Marquee Players, the Durban heat had first call and went for Rashid Khan of Afghanistan, the No. 1 ranked bowler in the current ICC T20 rankings. They were followed by the Jozi Stars who went for Chris Gayle of the Windies. Paarl Rocks followed with another Windies player, Dwayne Bravo. Cape Town Blitz then took Dawid Malan of England followed by Tshwane Spartans with England white ball captain Eoin Morgan and Nelson Mandela Bay Giants with England opening batsman Jason Roy.

In round one proper, the Giants led off with Chris Morris, followed by the Spartans with Lungi Ngidi, the Blitz with Andile Phehlukwayo, the Rocks with Tabraiz Shamsi, the Stars with Kolpak star Dane Vilas and the Heat with David Miller.

Lutho Sipamla became the first rookie to be chosen in Round Eight by the Spartans and they followed with another rookie in Tony de Zorzi in Round Nine. Other rookies signed were Sinethemba Qeshile for the Stars, Dyllan Matthews for the Giants, Okuhle Cele for the Heat, Eathan Bosch for the Rocks, and Kyle Verreynne for the Blitz.

The resulting teams are a unique blend of both local youth and international experience which is sure to make for some very exciting cricket.

The Draft order was predetermined by a weighted Player Matrix system. The players who are eligible for the main Draft are those who entered into a binding agreement to enter the Draft.

FINAL SQUADS

(in order of Protea Marquee Player, International Marquee Player, and then the 14 draft rounds, making a total of 16 players per squad)

CAPE TOWN BLITZ: Quinton de Kock, Dawid Malan (England), Andile Phehlukwayo, Dale Steyn, Samuel Badree (Windies), Asif Ali (Pakistan), Farhaan Behardien, Anrich Nortje, Janneman Malan, Malusi Siboto, George Linde, Ferisco Adams, Jason Smith, Sibonelo Makhanya, Kyle Verreynne (rookie), Dane Piedt.

DURBAN HEAT: Hashim Amla, Rashid Khan (Afghanistan), David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen, Kyle Abbott (kolpak), Keshav Maharaj, Khaya Zondo, Albie Morkel, Marchant de Lange (kolpak), Vernon Philander, Brandon Mavuta (Zimbabwe), Temba Bavuma, Morne van Wyk, Okuhle Cele (rookie), Sarel Erwee, Tladi Bokako.

JOZI STARS: Kagiso Rabada, Chris Gayle (Windies), Dane Vilas, Rassie van der Dussen, Daniel Christian (Australia), Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, Dwaine Pretorius, Eddie Leie, Pite van Biljon, Duanne Olivier, Ryan Rickelton, Sinethemba Qeshile (rookie), Simon Harmer, Calvin Savage, Alfred Mothoa.

NELSON MANDELA BAY GIANTS: Imran Tahir, Jason Roy (England), Chris Morris, Jon-Jon Smuts, Junior Dala, Christiaan Jonker, Aaron Phangiso, Ben Duckett (England), Sisanda Magala, Ryan McLaren, Heino Kuhn, Marco Marais, Dyllan Matthews (rookie), Lizaad Williams, Rudi Second, Carmi le Roux.

PAARL ROCKS: Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo (Windies), Tabraiz Shamsi, Dane Paterson, Aiden Markram, Mangaliso Mosehle, Bjorn Fortuin, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Grant Thomson, Paul Stirling (Ireland), Tshepo Moreki, Henry Davids, Cameron Delport , Eathan Bosch (rookie), Patrick Kruger, Kerwin Mungroo.

TSHWANE SPARTANS: AB de Villiers, Eoin Morgan (England), Lungi Ngidi, Robbie Frylinck, Jeewan Mendis (Sri Lanka), Theunis de Bruyn, Rory Kleinveldt, Sean Williams (Zimbabwe), Gihahn Cloete, Lutho Sipamla (rookie), Tony de Zorzi (rookie), Dean Elgar, Andrew Birch, Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe), Shaun von Berg, Eldred Hawken.

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MOSEHLE BLASTS TITANS TO RAM SLAM VICTORY

 Mangaliso Mosehle played his finest innings to date in one of the biggest matches of his career to help The Unlimited Titans lift the RAM SLAM T20 trophy in front of a full house home crowd at SuperSport Park. 

 

After the Sunfoil Dolphins had posted what looked to be a challenging 159 for five, Mosehle walked in at No. 3 and smashed seven sixes to score 87 from 39 balls. Although Mosehle and Henry Davids (35), with whom he put on 123 in 67 balls for the second wicket, fell to successive deliveries from Kyle Abbott, by that stage the game was won. With just 12 runs needed from 33 balls, Farhaan Behardien and Albie Morkel merely needed to keep their heads, which they did to record a seven-wicket win with 19 balls to spare. 

 

It was the first time since the 2011/12 season that the Titans had won the domestic Twenty20 competition, and it gave Rob Walter his third trophy since taking over as coach of the franchise at the start of the 2013/14 season. Given their dominance in the league phase, when they won eight games on the trot and finished 13 points clear at the top of the table, nobody could claim they were not deserved winners. One of the keys to their success has been the number of bases that they cover, and that was the case once again.

 

Albie Morkel was able to call on no fewer than eight bowling options, all of whom did a job as the Dolphins were strangled in the middle period of their innings. With runs hard to come by, Morne van Wyk (29), Jonathan Vandiar (26) and Kevin Pietersen all holed out as they tried to get the scoreboard going. A late blast from Dwayne Bravo and David Miller gave the visitors something to bowl at as they took 65 off the last six overs, with Bravo making 53 from 30 balls and Miller scoring 33. But that proved inadequate once Mosehle got going. While he has a List A century to his name as well as an unbeaten 93 in the shortest format, neither have come in such a pressure situation. As he went hard at the Dolphins, their bowlers had no answer, with Imran Tahir taking the worst punishment when Mosehle took 24 off his second over. That took the required rate below a run a ball, and the Titans eased home from there. Davids was named RAM Deliverer of the Day and Mosehle RAM Slammer of the day.

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DU BRUYN STEERS KNIGHTS TO VICTORY

A dominant bowling performance followed by Theunis de Bruyn’s 42 steered VKB Knights to a comfortable eight-wicket win – their second win of the season – over the Sunfoil Dolphins in a low-scoring game in Port Elizabeth. Andre Russell and Malusi Siboto took three wickets apiece, as Dolphins were restricted to 82 for 9 in 20 overs.

Dolphins got off to a horror start after choosing to bat, as they were left reeling at 35 for 5 at the end of the 10th over. They failed to recover from that start as wickets fell regularly – including two run-outs – and substantial partnerships were hard to stitch. Dwayne Bravo, who was the only batsman to score more than 15, top-scored with a 24-ball 23, before he was dismissed by Russell in the final over.

In the chase,  Knights too were off to a dodgy start, losing both openers within the first three overs. De Bruyn then came in and combined with Aubrey Swanepoel to post an unbeaten 75-run partnership which helped Knights reach their target with eight overs to spare, earning them a bonus-point in the process.

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PRETORIUS STRIKES IN LIONS VICTORY

Dwaine Pretorius struck four crucial blows to give the bizhub Highveld Lions the sweet taste of revenge as they beat the Sunfoil Dolphins in a RAM SLAM T20 nail-biter at Bidvest Wanderers on Sunday.

Pretorius’ 4 for 22 gave him a personal best in the format, but most importantly included the wickets of David Miller, Dwayne Bravo and Ryan McLaren as the Lions clung on to win by six runs.

The victory was all the more satisfying for the fact that the Lions had lost to the Dolphins by one run in the second round of the competition – a defeat that clearly set the young side back as they went on to lose their next two games.

This victory moved them up to fourth on the table with 12 points from six games, and gave them fresh hope of catching the top three – they are now four points behind the third-placed Cobras, who the Lions will host at the same venue in a week’s time.

By contrast the Dolphins have now failed to win in four games, and although they remain in second place, they lead the Cobras by just two points, having played a game more.

While Pretorius’ bowling swung the game in the second innings, Alviro Petersen’s unbeaten 60 from 41 balls kept the Lions in the game during the first innings as they posted 145 for six.

With Devon Conway (28) the only other real contributor, the hosts were unable to form any meaningful partnerships, as much because of their mistakes as the Dolphins’ good bowling – both Conway and Andre Malan were guilty of pulling long-hops straight to fielders.

With Morne van Wyk (20) and Vaughn van Jaarsveld putting on 45 for the first wicket while the ball was still hard, and Van Jaarsveld going on to score 42 from 28 balls, the Lions’ total looked short.

Aaron Phangiso pegged the Dolphins back by dismissing Van Jaarsveld and Khaya Zondo, but David Miller got himself in and put the visitors on track when he took 17 off an Eddie Leie over.

However, Hardus Viljoen pulled things back for the Lions with a quiet over that saw him finish with figures of 1 for 15 from four overs, and in the next over Pretorius cleaned up both Miller and Bravo to leave 23 runs required from the final two overs.

McLaren’s two fours off Lonwabo Tsotsobe in the penultimate over left 13 required off the last, which was whittled down to seven off the last two balls before Pretorius bowled McLaren to seal the game – much to the delight of the home side.

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MORRIS SENDS DOLPHINS PLUMMETING TO DEFEAT

Chris Morris  consigned the Sunfoil Dolphins to their lowest ever Twenty20 total as The Unlimited Titans shot to the top of the RAM SLAM T20 table with a comprehensive victory at Sahara Stadium Kingsmead.

 

The Titans looked to have fallen short of a good total when they were limited to 136 for nine on a slow Durban wicket, but Morris returned figures of 4 for 9 in three overs as the Dolphins were rolled for 70 to give the visitors a bonus point.

 

While the droughts around the country have led to drier pitches that have aided spin in the competition, that trend changed on Wednesday as the pacemen found a surface to their liking.

 

The short ball claimed a handful of victims on either side, while the yorker also proved a deadly weapon.

 

With most batsmen failing to deal with the change, Quinton de Kock’s 38 at the top of the Titans order made all the difference in the end, even with Ryan McLaren using the conditions wisely to bounce out Albie Morkel and york David Wiese and finish with figures of 3 for 28.

 

Six of the Titans top seven reached double figures without going any further, a statistic that appeared glum at the innings break but then looked like a luxury at the end of the game.

 

The Dolphins batting line-up had been powerful in the first half of the competition but there was a suspicion it was being held together by Kevin Pietersen, and so it proved in the first game after the Englishman’s departure.

 

David Miller (12) and Dwayne Bravo (27) were the only players to reach double figures, as Morris claimed two wickets up front and two later on.

 

With Morkel (2 for 14 in four overs) and Junior Dala (2 for 13 in 2.4 overs) also chipping in – the former using the short ball to good effect and the latter bowling fuller – the Dolphins were bowled out in just 15.4 overs, finishing short of their previous lowest total, which was the 82 they made against the Knights at the same venue last season.

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