The SA20 2024 schedule has been announced with the defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape set to take on Joburg Super Kings (JSK) in the tournament opener on January 10 in Gqeberha. The schedule was unveiled in Johannesburg on Tuesday, August 15 by the league commissioner Graeme Smith, who expressed his excitement for the second season after a thunderous success in the first.
The format remains the same, with all six teams set to take on each other twice and the top four teams will advance to the playoffs. However, this time around, the structure for the playoffs has been changed. After the semi-final structure in the inaugural season, the SA20 has adopted the qualifier-eliminator one, with the top two teams playing the first qualifier and the teams finishing third and fourth being involved in an eliminator., The team winning the first qualifier will directly qualify for the final while the second finalist will be determined in Qualifier 2, which will see the winner of the eliminator taking on the loser of the first qualifier.
Apart from the structure of the playoffs, the timings of the mid-week matches have been made uniform (5:30 PM local time), in order to get the post-work and post-school crowds at the stadiums.
While unveiling the schedule, former South Africa skipper and SA20 commissioner, Smith said, "With the Season 2 auction around the corner, the momentum is building and we are thrilled to announce these fixtures.
"We have a jam-packed opening week of matches which will captivate fans around the country. We have been intentional in giving families, friends and our new fans an opportunity to watch as many matches as possible, with mid-week fixtures starting from 17h30 and weekends providing prime summer evening viewing. It was fantastic to see all the fan support in year 1. Fans can mark their calendars and expect to see more of what they experienced last summer -the same vibe, entertainment, and world-class international and local talent in Season 2," he added.
Joburg Super Kings was one of the teams affected by the semi-final structure last year as they finished in second place on the points table but there were no second chances last time and the Sunrisers won the clash and then eventually the final to lift the inaugural title.
