SA20 2027: Schedule, Teams, Auction & Everything About Season 5 of South Africa's T20 League
Four SA20 seasons, including three by one team. Sunrisers Eastern Cape have made South Africa's franchise tournament their personal trophy cabinet, but the big question ahead of season five - due to be held across December 2026 and January 2027 - is how many others could follow. The league's exact dates have yet to be announced, but the pattern (last season ran 26 December to 25 January) and traditional September auction are likely to be followed. This page will be regularly updated with any further news.
New to the SA20? Six teams, all owned by IPL franchises, have contested the tournament which has taken place during the South African summer while the rest of the cricketing world has been dormant. It has since evolved into the second most popular T20 league on the planet.
SA20 2027: The Details
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Expected season window | Late December 2026 - January 2027 (TBC) |
| Expected auction | September 2026 |
| Teams | 6 (all owned by IPL franchises) |
| Defending champions | Sunrisers Eastern Cape (3rd title) |
| Format | T20, double round-robin group stage and knockout |
| Last season | 26 December 2025 - 25 January 2026 |
SA20 2026: What Happened
A tightly-contested final, where Dewald Brevis hit 101 from 56 for Pretoria Capitals, was ultimately overshadowed by a superb spell of bowling from Marco Jansen that saw him claim 3-10 from his spell. Brevis's century aside, Pretoria could only manage 158 for 7 — and the chasing Sunrisers Eastern Cape knocked it off with a 68 from Matthew Breetzke and an unbeaten 63 from captain Tristan Stubbs, winning by six wickets with an unbroken 114-run stand.
That's three titles in four years for the Gqeberha-based giants, whose only miss came in 2025, when their arch-rivals MI Cape Town lifted the trophy. These are the only two franchises to have won the tournament thus far.
SA20 Teams: The Six Franchises
| Team | IPL Owner | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrisers Eastern Cape | Sunrisers Hyderabad | St George's Park, Gqeberha |
| MI Cape Town | Mumbai Indians | Newlands, Cape Town |
| Joburg Super Kings | Chennai Super Kings | Wanderers, Johannesburg |
| Paarl Royals | Rajasthan Royals | Boland Park, Paarl |
| Pretoria Capitals | Delhi Capitals | SuperSport Park, Centurion |
| Durban's Super Giants | Lucknow Super Giants | Kingsmead, Durban |
As South Africa's answer to England's T20 Blast, the SA20 has the advantage of all franchises being owned by IPL teams. This has helped to create a tournament that serves both as a scouting ground for the IPL and an overflow for South Africa's white-ball talent, as the likes of Dwaine Pretorius, Brevis and Jansen - all SA20 regulars - have enjoyed huge success overseas. The details of the squad rebuild ahead of the fifth season will be discussed in the next few months leading up to the September 2026 auction.
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