Cape Town - The inaugural SA20 auction was an action-packed affair on Monday at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. IOL Sport's Zaahier Adams takes a look at the hits and misses of the day.
Hits
Tristan Stubbs (Sunrisers Eastern Cape) - R9.2 million
The Knysna-born youngster became an instant millionaire after his home Eastern Cape franchise won a bidding war over MI Cape Town.
Rilee Rossouw (Pretoria Capitals) – R6.9 million
The former Kolpak is one of the most explosive T20 batters in the world and the Pretoria Capitals recognised that by splurging on the left-hander.
Marco Jansen (Sunrisers Eastern Cape) - R6.1 million
The Sunrisers’ strategy was to invest in young South African talent and they went all out to secure the services of one of the most exciting all-rounders in the country at the moment.
Wayne Parnell (Pretoria Capitals) - R5.6 million
The Capitals and the Sunrisers were the big-spenders on the day and they went in pursuit of the experienced all-rounder from Cape Town.
Donovan Ferreira (Joburg Super Kings) - R5.5 million
The rags-to-riches story of the auction with the big-hitting right hander having still worked a regular job last year. The bidding for Ferreira was so intense it almost broke the auction with teams going above and beyond their kitty in an attempt to secure him.
Sisanda Magala (Sunrisers Eastern Cape) - R5.4 million
He may be “unfit” to the play for the Proteas but with fast-bowling legend Dale Steyn, who is the bowling coach at the Sunrisers, a firm fan of the burly fast bowler, the Eastern Cape team were prepared to pay top dollar for the burly death bowling specialist.
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— Zaahier Adams (@ZaahierAdams) September 19, 2022
Misses
Temba Bavuma
The Proteas T20 captain was the biggest omission on the six team rosters and it was a huge embarrassment not only for Bavuma, but also for South African cricket as a whole that the skipper went unsold after two rounds of bids.
Andile Phehlukwayo
One of the most expensive picks in the the previous Mzansi Super League picks, Phehlukwayo was considered surplus to requirements in the new competition.
Ross Taylor
The former Black Caps captain may have retired from international cricket, but he remains a top-class batter and would have added value to any of the teams. He went unsold at a base price of R850 000.
Ollie Robinson
The England fast bowler blew away the Proteas in the recent Test series, but is seemingly considered to be a red-ball specialist with nobody interested in him.
Pite van Biljon
It was a just only a few seasons ago that Van Biljon played a major role in helping the Jozi Super Kings to the maiden Mzansi Super League title, which earned him a call-up to the Proteas T20 squad, but at 36 years old now the new owners seemed to believe he was not up to it any longer.
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