Review: SA20 players star in ICC T20 World Cup (week 4)

NEXT STOP: SA20 FOR T20 WORLD CUP STARS

There can be no greater advertisement or endorsement of the SA20 than the presence of World Cup-winning captain, Jos Buttler, and the man who was named both player of the match and player of the tournament, all-rounder Sam Curran.

England became the first team to simultaneously hold both the ODI and T20 World Cup titles when Buttler led them to a five-wicket victory against Pakistan in the final at the MCG on Sunday and, appropriately, the man who held the previous trophy aloft at Lord’s in 2019 will also be participating in the SA20 – alongside Buttler.

Eoin Morgan will line up alongside Buttler for the Paarl Royals when they take on MI Cape Town in the opening match of the tournament at Newlands on 10 January and they will face two of their teammates – Curran and fellow all-rounder Liam Livingstone.

Curran was barely required as a batter during England’s march to victory but his tally of 13 wickets was the second-highest in the tournament behind Sri Lankan leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga who claimed 15.

Given that he bowled almost exclusively in the Power Play and the ‘hitting overs’ at the end of the innings his average of 6.5 per wicket and economy rate of 6.5 were astonishing.

His analysis of 4-0-12-3 in the final made him a deserved recipient of the player of the match accolade although he admitted afterwards that he believed team-mate Ben Stokes’ unbeaten 52 which saw his team over the line was a more important contribution.

A 'PROTEA' AT HEART

Livingstone’s power-hitting was the main reason MI Cape Town secured his services but his combination spin – off-spin and leg-spin – will provide a fascinating side dish to the most prolific spinner in T20 history, Afghan leggie Rashid Khan.

Three other World Cup winners will be making their way to South Africa after Christmas with leg-spinner Adil Rashid, whose contributions to England’s success were immense in the semifinal against India (4-0-20-1) and the final in which he delivered a wicket-maiden in his figures of 4-1-22-2, lining up for the Pretoria Capitals at SuperSport Park.

Alongside Rashid in Centurion will be team-mate Harry Brook who played every game in England’s successful campaign without ever quite displaying his best form but T20 cricket is the most selfless format of all in which individual highlights and performances always take a back seat to the team’s success. Brook’s aggressive middle-order batting is ideally suited to Centurion's short boundaries.

The Durban Super Giants would also have had a World Cup winner in their ranks had English left-arm seamer Reece Topley not been ruled out of the tournament with injury just days before it began but his return to fitness will give the Kingsmead crowd much to enjoy.

Finally, while the attention of the St George’s Park fans is understandably focused on the high-profile signings by Sunrisers Eastern Cape of 22-year-olds Tristan Stubbs and Marco Jansen, there is a 37-year-old amidst their ranks who is yet to have an impact.

Former Protea Roelof van der Merwe took the brilliant, diving catch to dismiss David Miller and hasten the Netherlands to victory over South Africa which eliminated the latter from the tournament, but he remains a ‘Protea’ at heart and still has much to offer the game in the shortest format.