SA20 Auction Winners and Losers: Who Improved the Most

Key facts

Winners: Joburg Super Kings bought the top of the market

Joburg spent the biggest and bought the best of what was available. Rowles is the headline: an 18-year-old from the Joburg area who joins his hometown team and plays at the Wanderers, the ground Joburg call home. Their head coach, Albie Morkel, had said the team tracked Rowles for more than a year before the auction, so this was a planned pick, not a bidding-room impulse. At R2.9 million he is also the most expensive player of the auction, which puts early pressure on a teenager, but the pick itself makes sense: a young all-rounder with years ahead of him.

Du Plessis, at R2.7 million, is the other end of the same plan. He is 42 and still scoring runs in leagues around the world, and he brings the leadership a dressing room full of players from different countries needs in a short tournament. Joburg's captain for Season 5 is still to be confirmed, so nobody should assume du Plessis walks in with the armband, but his experience is real either way. Around those two, Joburg added Kieron Pollard for R1.5 million, Andries Gous for R1 million, Blessing Muzarabani for R500,000 and Dayyaan Galiem for R375,000, then closed the squad with Overton as the wildcard. That is six auction buys plus a wildcard, and it leaves Joburg with the deepest new group of any team. See the Joburg Super Kings squad for the full list.

Winners: MI Cape Town fixed the exact weakness

MI Cape Town, the 2025 champions, spent on the two things a title defence needs: new-ball pace and middle-order power. Trent Boult, the New Zealand left-arm fast bowler, arrived for R1.5 million. Shimron Hetmyer, the West Indies batter, arrived for the same price. Between them they cover the first over and the last five, which is where close T20 games are won. Wiaan Mulder, at R2.6 million, is the balance pick: an all-rounder who lets the team shape its side around conditions instead of forcing one combination.

The cheaper buys matter too. Daniel Smith, Lehan Botha and Oliver Whitehead each cost R200,000, and all three are young South African names who add depth without using overseas slots. MI Cape Town also kept their core, with Rashid Khan as captain and Kagiso Rabada as the wildcard, so the new names join a settled group rather than a rebuild. That is why their auction looks smart: every buy has a clear job. See the MI Cape Town squad for the full list.

Quiet winners: the two teams that did not need the auction

Durban's Super Giants kept 18 players and pre-signed Sam Curran, which completed their 19 before the auction started. Paarl Royals kept 17 and pre-signed Azmatullah Omarzai and Joe Root, with Root as the wildcard, which also completed their 19. Doing nothing at the auction was not a failure for either team. It was the plan working: retention and pre-signings had already done the job, so there was nothing left to buy.

The risk for both is different. A settled squad can also be a stale one, and neither team has added a new headline name for Season 5. But both kept the groups they trust, and both avoided paying auction prices for players they did not need. In a season where two rivals spent heavily, standing still with a complete squad is a defensible call.

The question mark: Pretoria Capitals and Sunrisers Eastern Cape

Pretoria Capitals bought five players and none of them cost more than R500,000. Rassie van der Dussen arrived for R500,000, and Keemo Paul, Ackeem Auguste, Josh Breed and Temba Bavuma each cost R200,000. Their bigger moves came before the auction: Phil Salt and Matthew Short were pre-signed, and Andre Russell joined as the wildcard. The batting, on paper, looks strong. The question is whether the cheap auction buys add enough with the ball, because the retained group has to carry the bowling load again.

Sunrisers Eastern Cape, the defending champions with three titles, bought only two players: Nandre Burger for R500,000 and Craig Overton for R1.5 million. They had already pre-signed Mitchell Marsh and Rishad Hossain, and Marco Jansen stayed as the wildcard, so the squad was nearly done before the auction. Champions do not need to rebuild, and Sunrisers have kept the group that won in 2026. The risk is the opposite of Joburg's: if one or two retained names lose form, there is less new blood to turn to. Every price in this article is listed team by team in Every SA20 Season 5 Auction Buy and Price, Team by Team, and the Full schedule shows when each new signing first plays.

FAQs