SA20 League: Top Five Most Expensive Players Of SA20 Auction

The much-awaited auction of the inaugural edition of the South Africa T20 League (SA20) took place in Cape Town on Monday, September 20. As many as 533 players went under the hammer, and the franchises ended up spending Rand 125 Million on 80 players. 

On that note, here's a look at the top five expensive buys of the SA20 League: 

Tristan Stubbs

Tristan Stubbs / PC: Twitter

South African batting sensation Tristan Stubbs fetched the highest bid of Rand 9.2 million (USD 520,000 approx.) and became an instant millionaire at the inaugural SA20 auction on Monday. The 22-year-old fueled the fiercest bidding war between Sunrisers Eastern Cape and MI Cape Town with the former eventually emerging victorious. 

The Proteas sensation has got incredible numbers in the shortest format of the game. Stubbs, who made the headlines with his remarkable outing in the international maiden, having played a blitzkrieg knock of 28-ball 72 has accumulated 784 runs in 34 T20 appearances at an average of 30.15 and an astonishing strike rate of 160.65. 

Rilee Rossouw 

Rilee Rossouw / PC: Twitter

Rilee Rossouw, who recently returned to South Africa's T20I team after 6 long years became the second most expensive buy in the auction of the inaugural edition of the South Africa T20 League (SA20). 

The Pretoria Capitals, the sister franchise of the Indian Premier League's Delhi Capitals broke the bank for the Kolpak-returnee as they spent a whopping price of Rand 6.9 million (USD 389,000 approx.) to acquire his services for the first edition of the tournament.

Marco Jansen 

Marco Jansen, the tall left-arm pacer became the third most expensive purchase in the auction of the inaugural edition of the South Africa T20 League (SA20) with Sunrisers Eastern Cape acquiring his services for Rand 6.1 million (USD 344,000 approx.).

The 6'8 left-armer played the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League for Sunrisers Hyderabad and furnished a decent performance with the ball. Jansen picked up seven wickets in eight matches with an economy of 8.56 and 3/25 being his best figures in the cash-rich league. 

Wayne Parnell

Wayne Parnell / PC: Twitter

Joburg Super Kings and Sunrisers Eastern Cape had kicked off the bidding war for Wayne Parnell before the Pretoria Capitals made a grand entry and roped in the left-hand bowling all-rounder for Rand 5.6 million (USD 316,000 approx). 

The 33-year-old has garnered over 1700 runs in 237 T20s he has played thus far, while with the ball, the left-arm seamer has picked 240 wickets at an average of 25.74 and economy of 7.82. 

Donavon Ferreira

Donavon Ferreira / PC: Twitter

The young wicket-keeper batter became the fifth most expensive grab of the auction of the inaugural edition of the South Africa T20 League (SA20). 

Ferreira, who listed his base price at Rand 175,000 (USD 10,000 approx.), sparked a dramatic bidding war between Joburg Super Kings, Pretoria Capitals, and Paarl Royals in the accelerated round of the auction. 

However, it was Joburg Super Kings, which eventually won the battle and bagged the services of the Pretoria-born for Rand 5.5 million (USD 310,000 approx.).   

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