BETWAY SA20 STARS SET FOR THE HUNDRED'S NEW ERA

The Hundred kicks off its 2026 season with teams under a new ownership structure, but Betway SA20 fans will find plenty to recognise.

Following the ECB's sale of stakes in three franchises to Indian Premier League owners, several English teams now share both investors and identities with their South African counterparts - and, fittingly, a wave of SA20 players will turn out for these freshly rebranded sides.

The clearest crossover is at Manchester Super Giants, the newly renamed Manchester Originals, now majority-owned by RPSG Group - the same group behind Durban's Super Giants in SA20. The Super Giants have leaned into the connection, naming Aiden Markram as captain, alongside Jos Buttler, Heinrich Klaasen and Noor Ahmad from their SA20 team. Leus du Plooy (Joburg Super Kings) and Tom Moores (MI Cape Town) complete the SA20 connection.

Markram, Buttler, Klaasen and Noor will be familiar faces to Super Giants fans

MI London tells a similar story. Reliance's acquisition of the Oval Invincibles links the team to MI Cape Town, and the squad reads like an SA20 who's who: Trent Boult (who'll become the first player to complete the MI 'set' across franchise leagues), Rashid Khan and Nicholas Pooran will be familiar with their kit colours in The Hundred while Will Jacks and Sherfane Rutherford (both Pretoria Capitals), as well as Richard Gleeson and James Vince (both Joburg Super Kings) were also signed up for SA20 Season 4. Their head coach, meanwhile, is one other than Kieron Pollard who had a brief stint in Cape Town during Season 4.

Boult, Rashid Khan and Pooran will add another 'MI' team to their CV while Pollard trades in his playing kit for the coach's mitt in London

Then there's Sunrisers Leeds, formerly Northern Superchargers, now under Sun Group ownership - the same stable as Sunrisers Eastern Cape. There's no Orange Army player crossover but Director of Cricket Dan Vettori will serve as head coach in The Hundred and Dan Lawrence (Paarl Royals), Ryan Rickelton (MI Cape Town) and Reece Topley (Joburg Super Kings) represent familiar faces for SA20 fans on the playing side.

Sunrisers Eastern Cape Director of Cricket, Dan Vettori, and head coach Adi Birrell are both be involved at Sunrisers Leeds as men's and women's head coach respectively

Between them, these three rebranded franchises account for 20 of the SA20 players appearing in this year's Hundred - a tidy illustration of how closely the two leagues' ownership groups are now intertwined, even if squad selection isn't strictly tied to sister-franchise loyalty.

The remaining sides have their own strong SA20 contingents. Birmingham Phoenix bring in Donovan Ferreira, Saqib Mahmood, Will Smeed and Chris Wood. London Spirit have the joint-deepest SA20 pool outside the three rebranded clubs, fielding Jonny Bairstow, Dewald Brevis, James Coles, Liam Livingstone, Tymal Mills, Adam Milne and Lhuan-dre Pretorius. Southern Brave will field David Miller, Michael Pepper, Thomas Rew, Tristan Stubbs and Dan Worrall. Trent Rockets bring in Lewis Gregory and Craig Overton, while Welsh Fire have recruited Jordan Cox, Marco Jansen and Asa Tribe.

In all, 37 SA20 Season 4 players will feature across the eight The Hundred franchises this season, underlining how firmly the two competitions have become linked on the field as well as in the boardroom - the shared player pools at Manchester Super Giants, MI London and Sunrisers Leeds are the most visible sign of it.

For South African viewers, it means a lot of familiar faces on English soil this The Hundred season - several of them literally wearing the same franchise colours they do back home.

ALL THE BETWAY SA20 STARS PLAYING IN THE HUNDRED 2026

Birmingham Phoenix: (4) Donovan Ferreira (Joburg Super Kings), Saqib Mahmood (Pretoria Capitals)*, Will Smeed (Pretoria Capitals), Chris Wood (Sunrisers Eastern Cape)

London Spirit: (7) Jonny Bairstow (Sunrisers Eastern Cape), Dewald Brevis (Pretoria Capitals), James Coles (Sunrisers Eastern Cape), Liam Livingstone - captain (Durban's Super Giants), Tymal Mills (Pretoria Capitals), Adam Milne (Sunrisers Eastern Cape), Lhuan-dre Pretorius (Paarl Royals)

Manchester Super Giants: (6) Jos Buttler (Durban's Super Giants), Leus du Plooy (Joburg Super Kings), Heinrich Klaasen (Durban's Super Giants), Aiden Markram - captain (Durban's Super Giants), Tom Moores (MI Cape Town), Noor Ahmad (Durban's Super Giants)

MI London: (7) Trent Boult (MI Cape Town), Richard Gleeson (Joburg Super Kings), Will Jacks (Pretoria Capitals)*, Rashid Khan (MI Cape Town), Nicholas Pooran (MI Cape Town), Sherfane Rutherford (Pretoria Capitals), James Vince (Joburg Super Kings) 

Southern Brave: (5) David Miller (Paarl Royals), Michael Pepper (Joburg Super Kings), Thomas Rew (Paarl Royals), Tristan Stubbs (Sunrisers Eastern Cape), Dan Worrall (Joburg Super Kings) 

Sunrisers Leeds: (3) Dan Lawrence (Paarl Royals), Ryan Rickelton (MI Cape Town), Reece Topley (Joburg Super Kings)

Trent Rockets: (2) Lewis Gregory (Sunrisers Eastern Cape), Craig Overton (Pretoria Capitals)*

Welsh Fire: (3) Jordan Cox (Pretoria Capitals), Marco Jansen (Sunrisers Eastern Cape), Asa Tribe (Paarl Royals)

*withdrew from Season 4 due to injury or international commitments