Pro20 Cup featuring teams from two divisions starts in South Africa — TimesLIVE
A new cricket tournament, the Pro20 Cup, starts in South Africa on Friday, bringing together teams from the first and second divisions as well as the SA Emerging team. The competition will replace the CSA T20 Challenge for eight elite-division teams and the T20 Knockout, which featured second-division representatives.
The tournament will feature 16 teams divided into two groups of eight. Each team will play one match against the other opponents in its group, after which the top four teams from each group will advance to the Super 8s stage. There, they will play against qualified teams from the other group, and the four strongest participants will reach the semifinals. The final is scheduled for November 14.
An opportunity for second-division teams
As TimesLIVE reports, the reform of South Africa's domestic cricket is intended to give provincial teams from less populous regions more opportunities to make themselves known. Cricket South Africa's executive for domestic cricket, David Mokopanele, said that a joint competition for the two divisions would allow young players to test themselves in matches against more experienced opponents and bring professional cricket closer to more communities.
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For second-division teams, Pro20 will be a test not only on the field but also for their management. All 71 tournament matches will be shown live on SuperSport or streamed on Cricket South Africa's YouTube channel. This will give second-division participants a wider audience and an opportunity to attract sponsors.
Opening matches and group line-ups
The tournament will open with two matches at SuperSport Park: North West Dragons will play the reigning champions Warriors, while Titans will face Western Province. Group A includes Western Province, Boland, Knights, Titans, Mpumalanga, Easterns, Tuskers and SA Emerging. Group B will feature North West, Lions, Warriors, Dolphins, Limpopo, South Western Districts, Border and Northern Cape.
The following day, Northern Cape will play Border in Kimberley. Sunday will feature Dolphins versus Lions in Durban, Mpumalanga versus Titans in White River, and Western Province versus Knights in Newlands. For players from second-division teams, the tournament may also be an opportunity to attract the attention of larger provincial teams or SA20 franchises.
