De Villiers headlines new South African T20 league

CAPE TOWN: AB de Villiers will headline South Africa’s first city-based Twenty20 league when he leads the Tshwane Spartans in the opening match of the Mzansi (South Africa) Super League against Cape Town Blitz on Friday (today).

The month-long league will get under way barely a month after the official launch, without a title sponsor and with a relatively modest list of international players, partly because some big-name players already had other commitments.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) have budgeted for a loss of 40 million rand (about $2.8 mn) for the first edition of a tournament which was first mooted in 2017 before being abandoned in the absence of a television deal or main sponsor, leading to a loss of about $14 mn and the resignation of then chief executive Haroon Lorgat.

SABC, the cash-strapped national broadcaster, will televise the tournament.South Africa’s leading one-day players will miss the opening matches because of a tour of Australia which finishes Saturday.

But De Villiers is probably the biggest drawcard in South African cricket. His retirement from international cricket earlier this year means that the league will be his only appearances on South African fields this season.

In a website article, De Villiers said he “can’t wait” for the league to begin. “I have been working hard in the gym and nets, and it’s all systems go,” he wrote. De Villiers has been appointed captain of the Spartans, who will represent the metropolitan area of Pretoria, his home town. He hit 93 off 31 balls in a warm-up match against the Johannesburg team, Jozi Stars.