Northerns out to defend Africa Cup T20 title
Defending champions Northerns, will start their bid to retain their title in Group B of the Africa Cup T20 competition to be played at Oudtshoorn’s Recreation Ground in September.
They will be up against hosts, SWD, Northern Cape and one of
the three continental African teams, Kenya.
The full draw was done by Cricket South Africa (CSA) in Cape Town today with Pietermaritzburg, Oudtshoorn, East London and Paarl the venues for the four groups. The venue for the Finals Weekend will be decided at the end of the Group Stage.
The second edition of the Africa T20 will take place over four consecutive weekends as from 02 September to 25 September 2016 culminating in the Finals weekend scheduled for 30 – 01 October 2016.
The competition this year is scheduled at the coastal venues as listed below with the home province heading up the pools.
The following was the outcome of today’s draw
Pool A – KZN Inland, Namibia, Western Province, North West, Pietermaritzburg Oval, Pietermaritzburg: 02 – 04 Sep
Pool B – South Western Districts, Northerns, Northern Cape, Kenya, Recreation Ground, Oudtshoorn: 09 – 11 Sep
Pool C – Border, Easterns, Free State, Zimbabwe, Buffalo Park Cricket Ground, East London: 16 – 18 Sep
Pool D – Boland, KZN, Eastern Province, Gauteng, Boland Park, Paarl: 23 – 25 Sep
“The forefront of this competition is the development of players from the semi-professional affiliate teams and their exposure to playing alongside franchise players,” commented Corrie van Zyl, CSA General Manager: Cricket. “The feedback we have had from the coaches, captains and players has been extremely positive.
“In this regard I would like to thank SuperSport for their contribution in providing live television coverage of most of the matches.
“Going into the second season of this tournament we must look to build on what we have already achieved.”
The White Kookaburra Turf Ball will be utilised for the entire tournament.
The competing teams will be playing for prize money of R300 000 going to the winners.
CSA Anti-Corruption regulation for the Players and Match Officials Area (“PMOA”) will be in place at all venues.
The fixtures will be announced in due course.
All affiliates are required to include at least two Franchise players in their respective squads and no more than four can play in any one match. In addition, all squads must include two under-21 players who have yet to play franchise cricket.
In a change from last season two matches each will be played on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The exception is the Finals Weekend which will be completed on the Saturday to avoid a clash with the Momentum ODI Series between the Proteas and Australia.
CSA will present all players with a special tournament cap as part of the organisation’s 25th anniversary celebrations.