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Legends and Young Guns Light Up SA20 Season 5 Auction

Faf, Pollard, Mulder and Rowles headlined the Season 5 auction as four franchises finalised squads in Johannesburg.

By Saleem Sial · 7 Oct 2026

Four franchises finalised their squads in Johannesburg at the Season 5 player auction, and the day belonged to a mix of legends and teenagers. Faf du Plessis, Kieron Pollard and Wiaan Mulder changed teams or stayed put for seven-figure fees, while eighteen-year-old Jason Rowles became the most expensive buy of the day. By the end of the auction, the shape of Season 5 was set: six squads of nineteen, ready for 17 January.

Joburg Super Kings made the loudest moves. Du Plessis returned for R2.7 million after a bidding war with MI Cape Town, and Kieron Pollard, the leading run-scorer in men's T20 history, joined for R1.5 million. Rowles, at R2.9 million, cost more than either of them, and the Super Kings also added Andries Gous of the United States and Blessing Muzarabani of Zimbabwe. It was a squad built in one afternoon around experience at the top and youth at the bottom.

MI Cape Town spent their money on power. Wiaan Mulder arrived for R2.6 million, Shimron Hetmyer was the first purchase of the day at R1.5 million, and Trent Boult returned to the franchise. With Oliver Whitehead added as well, the 2025 champions kept their core idea intact: match-winners in every department, led by Rashid Khan.

Pretoria Capitals kept Rassie van der Dussen for R500,000 and added Temba Bavuma, who begins a third stint in the league after winning its first two titles with Sunrisers Eastern Cape. Sunrisers themselves completed their nineteen with Nandre Burger and Craig Overton, finishing a squad that already had three titles behind it. Durban's Super Giants and Paarl Royals, already complete before the auction, watched the whole day without needing to bid.

Smith's verdict on the day was that proven internationals now sit alongside South Africa's brightest young talent, and the auction backed him up: the most expensive player was a schoolboy, and the biggest names were cricketers with decades of T20 cricket behind them. The season that follows will test whether that mix wins games, starting with the opener between Sunrisers Eastern Cape and Pretoria Capitals at St George's Park on 17 January 2027. The auction also confirmed the league's price structure: the biggest cheque went to a teenager, while proven internationals like Pollard and Boult went for R1.5 million, which says as much about how franchises value potential as it does about reputation. The season will judge the spending soon enough.

Source: https://www.sa20.co.za/news/legends-and-young-guns-light-up-betway-sa20-season-5-player-auction