SA20 2026 schedule announced: MI Cape Town to face Durban's Super Giants in opening clash, final on 25 January 2026

SA20 2026 will begin on December 26, 2025.

Cricket South Africa (CSA), on Wednesday, 9th July, 2025, announced the schedule of the fourth season of the country’s franchise T20 league, SA20. The tournament will commence on December 26, 2025, unlike the previous three editions, which had a Jan-Feb window. Defending champions MI Cape Town will clash with Durban’s Super Giants in the opening clash of SA20 2026.

A total of six teams will clash for the title in SA20 2026, namely – Sunrisers Eastern Cape, MI Cape Town, Durban’s Super Giants, Pretoria Capitals, Paarl Royals, and Joburg Super Giants. The tournament will follow a double round-robin format, with each team facing other teams twice during the league stage.

The playoffs of the tournament will begin on January 21, 2026 with Qualifier 1. The Eliminator will be played on January 22, while Qualifier 2 will take place on January 25. The SA20 2026 final will be played on January 25. The venues for the playoffs and the final are yet to be announced.

MI Cape Town are the defending champions of SA20 2026

MI Cape Town, led by Rashid Khan, are the defending champions of SA20 2026. In the last season, they outplayed Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the final by 76 runs to win the title. They were also the most successful team in the league stage and finished at the top spot in the points table.

In the previous edition, Lhuan-dre Pretorius finished as the leading run-scorer of the tournament with 397 runs in 12 matches. Marco Jansen ended as the top wicket-taker with 19 scalps in 13 matches.

According to the SA20 format, the top four teams in the points table in the league stage qualify for the playoffs. The bottom two teams are eliminated from the tournament. Sunrisers Eastern Cape won the first two editions of the tournament in 2023 and 2024.

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