Who are the favourites to win SA20 2024?

Joburg Super Kings

The Joburg Super Kings were the second-best team after the group stage last season but lost their semi-final to eventual tournament winners Sunrisers Eastern Cape.

They are back this season as one of the favourites to be around the top of the table once again, led by the seemingly ageless Faf du Plessis.

He will be backed up by the experience of the likes of England's Moeen Ali, Afghanistan's Zahir Khan as well as South Africans Imran Tahir and Aaron Phangiso. The youthful aggression of fast bowlers Gerald Coetzee and Nandre Burger will also be key to their success.

On the batting front, a lot seems to be resting on the performances of Du Plessis but he certainly has the pedigree as the second-highest run scorer in the competition's history with 369 runs. JSK will also be looking for some big innings from Leus du Plooy and Reeza Hendricks.

Prediction: Winner

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MI Cape Town

MI Cape Town are also among the early favourites to make a deep run in the 2024 tournament thanks to a squad bursting at the seams with star power.

West Indies heavyweight Keron Pollard has been announced as the captain of the side, which boasts the likes of Dewald Brevis, Rassie van der Dussen and Ryan Rickelton on the batting front and world-class bowlers such as Kagiso Rabada and Sam Curran. 

Then come the all-rounders which, as well as Pollard, also include Liam Livingstone, Duan Jansen and Grant Roelofsen.

It should be noted, though, that MI Cape Town were similarly stacked last season and they only managed to win three games on their way to finishing last in the standings.

Prediction: Final

Sunrisers Eastern Cape

As the defending champions, it would be remiss to leave the Sunrisers Eastern Cape off the list of teams favoured to win the 2024 SA20.

Led by the red-hot Aiden Markram, who dominated the IPL in 2023 and has gone from strength to strength in all formats for the Proteas, the Sunrisers could not have wished for a better captain.

His experience will be required to corral the raw talent of Tristan Stubbs and Marco Jansen. The latter, especially, seems to have gone off the boil somewhat since his explosive introduction to international cricket.

Simon Harmer and Temba Bavuma will undoubtedly form a key part of the leadership group, with the success of the former's off-breaks also likely to play a big role in how well the side from Eastern Cape fares.

Prediction: Semi-finals

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