THE BETWAY SA20 FAMILY TREE

Cricket has a rich tradition of family ties, whether it’s siblings as teammates or opponents, father and son on either side of the rope or more in the background… and it’s no different in Betway SA20.

All told, a look through the League on this International Day of Families, reveals four sets of brothers as well as a set of brothers-in-law.

Ahead of Season 2, there was much coverage of the fact that Corbin Bosch’s trade to Pretoria Capitals would finally bring him and his brother, Eathan, together in the same team – based at the ground, Centurion, their late father Tertius had made his name at. Through the campaign, Corbin and Eathan were picked to play five matches together. Considering they never actually bowled in tandem, had one three-ball long partnership and the Capitals didn’t reach the playoffs they may have mixed feelings about their first stint as teammates.

Pre-season, the Bosch Bros lamented having to always play as opponents which remained the case for the Jansen twins in Season 2.

Marco’s Sunrisers Eastern Cape won both clashes against Duan’s MI Cape Town in Season 1, including one where he was player of the match, and duly repeated the feat second time round again. Of course, Marco had a dream season with the Orange Army retaining their title with him picking up a five-for in the final and finishing top of the Rising Star of the Season rankings.

Duan, meanwhile, had a season of not playing.

Then there’s the case of brothers-in-law, Faf du Plessis and Hardus Viljoen. They have been in opposing teams on two occasions in SA20, once each in 2023 when Viljoen played for Durban’s Super Giants and during Season 2 with Viljoen in Pretoria Capitals colours.

It’s fair to say that Du Plessis won their battle on first meeting in the League – 24 January 2023 at Wanderers. In a pulsating match, won by JSK with five balls to spare, Viljoen’s match figures read 3.1-0-40-0. On the other hand, Du Plessis was the star of the show, scoring an unbeaten 113 to carry his team home and scoring 39 of those runs against his brother-in-law, including four 4s and three 6s, the last of which being the match-winning blow.

If Viljoen had revenge in mind during Season 2, he was left disappointed. During the Wanderers Highveld Derby, Will Jacks rattled Du Plessis’s stumps, for nine runs, in the second over – before he had begun his bowling spell. JSK also claimed the bragging rights from that fixture, while rain won the day in the reverse fixture at Centurion (which Viljoen wasn’t picked for).

Off the field, two further sets of brothers played their part in the ongoing success of SA20. The Morkel brothers, Albie (Joburg Super Kings assistant coach) and Morne (Durban’s Super Giants bowling coach) helped their teams reach the playoffs. Morne ultimately got to the Final, courtesy of a DSG win over JSK in Qualifier 2 (at the Wanderers) but JSK had beaten DSG in a humdinger to reach the playoffs in the first place – and so ‘big’ brother Albie holds the edge in the overall head-to-head, 3-2.

There is no contest, however, when the Cook brothers meet up in SA20. Stephen, as the Head of Cricket Operations for the League, remains a neutral party watching his younger brother Ryan serve as fielding coach for the now back-to-back champions, Sunrisers Eastern Cape.

*For the sake of clarity, Sunrisers Eastern Cape’s Jordan Hermann and Joburg Super Kings’ Ronan Herrmann (notice the extra ‘r’) are not related, and neither are the two Hendricks’ – Joburg Super Kings’ Reeza and MI Cape Town’s Beuran.