Both the Pretoria Capitals and the Joburg Super Kings wanted to swap their SA20 semi-finals around so they could play in front of their home crowds, but the other teams in the league refused, saying the knockout games should go ahead where scheduled, according to franchise insiders.
SA20 officials confirmed on Tuesday that the Pretoria Capitals will play against the team that finishes fourth on the log in the semi-final at the Wanderers on Wednesday, while Joburg Super Kings will make the short trip to Centurion on Thursday to play the side that finishes third. Both semi-finals start at 5.30pm.
Pretoria Capitals will finish top of the standings regardless of the outcome of their match against the Paarl Royals on Tuesday evening, because they already have more bonus points (3) than the Super Kings (1), who joined them on 27 points following their bonus point win over MI Cape Town at the Wanderers on Monday night.
Double advantage
As long as the Paarl Royals avoid defeat on Tuesday night they will finish third and play Joburg Super Kings in the semis. If they lose to the Capitals though, then they have to make sure the defeat is not heavy enough to cause their nett run-rate (0.04) to slip below that of Durban Super Giants (-0.31).
Sunrisers Eastern Cape have already qualified for the semi-finals and neither them nor Paarl nor Durban were willing to swap their possible semi-final venues. No doubt they wanted to ensure Joburg and Pretoria did not receive a double advantage, not only playing on the Highveld but also in front of their home crowd.
Pre-allocate venues
The decision to pre-allocate the knockout venues was made for logistical reasons and is the same format as the Indian Premier League employs.
With the round-robin only finishing on Tuesday night and the first semi-final on Wednesday, it would be impossible to only know then where the semi-finals, which take weeks of planning, are being held.
As it is, staff have been working through the night at the Wanderers to ensure the ground is ready for their semi-final on Wednesday, and then they will have to get everything prepared again for the final on Saturday.
Insiders say there have been some discussions around switching to a knockout format next season where the team that tops the log automatically goes through to the final, with the second and third-placed sides then playing off to join them.
That seems ideal for a six-team league, given that the fourth-placed side could get one lucky game and knock out runaway leaders at the top.
But the downside of that system is that it is one less match in terms of television content, which is going to mean a decline in revenue.
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