Cape Town — The SA20 took another forward step on Tuesday with the addition of two high-profile Australian internationals Matthew Wade and Tim David joining the competition.
Wade, who is a former T20 Cup winner having played a major role in the Australians lifting the trophy in the United Arab Emirates in 2021, joins the Joburg Super Kings for the second half of the tournament as a replacement for paceman Alzarri Joseph.
The West Indies paceman has left the Super Kings to join up with his national team for their two-Test tour of Zimbabwe ahead of their full format tour to South Africa next month.
The Super Kings have not had a permanent gloveman, with the Wanderers-based side initially opting for Proteas Test wicket-keeper Kyle Verreynne before reverting to part-timer Donovan Ferreira behind the stumps.
Wade will, however, add a significant amount of beef to the Super Kings batting unit, particularly at the top of the order where he excelled for IPL champions, the Gujarat Titans, last year.
Meanwhile, David will add much-needed firepower to the MI Cape Town middle order. The Newlands-based team have severely missed England international Liam Livingstone’s ability to clear the ropes after he was ruled out through injury prior to the tournament.
David, who was born in Singapore but qualifies to play for Australia having moved to Perth when he was toddler, is fresh off a successful Big Bash League season.
He will be joined by Henry Brookes after the England seamer replaced his countryman Olly Stone at MI Cape Town. Stone is currently part of the England one-day international squad doing battle with the Proteas before joining Ben Stokes’ Test squad in New Zealand.
Durban’s Super Giants will certainly be hoping for a fresh impetus from their two new squad additions David Willey and Ben McDermott.
Lance Klusener’s team are rooted to the bottom of the standings and face a must-win game against MI Cape Town at Kingsmead on Thursday when the SA20 resumes after the England ODI series.
Willey and McDermott, who is the son of former Australian seamer Craig, replaces the West Indian duo Jason Holder and Kyle Mayers.
The Caribbean duo are required for Test duty in Zimbabwe along with the Super Kings’ Joseph.
The Pretoria Capitals currently lead the SA20 table with 23 points and are virtually assured of a semi-final place. The Sunrisers Eastern Cape and Paarl Royals are both locked on 17 points, but have played one more game.
The rest of the table is made up of the Super Kings (16), MI Cape Town (13) and Durban’s Super Giants (8).
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