Dewald Brevis, the 22-year-old batter, became the most expensive signing ever at the SA20 after being bought by the Pretoria Capitals for a whopping R16.5 million. Capitals entered the auction with R32.5 million and spent over 50% of their purse on Brevis alone. Joburg Super Kings and Paarl Royals sparked the initial bidding for the young South African and the price had already soared past R10 million before the Capitals jumped in. The Super Kings remained interested up until the Capitals' winning bid.
Aiden Markram, the most successful captain at the SA20 having led Sunrisers Eastern Cape to three titles, was the other marquee signing. Durban Super Giants showed immediate interest in the South African T20I skipper and were contested by the Capitals - who at that stage still hadn't purchased Brevis. The two franchises escalated the price up to R12.4 million with Super Giants ahead. Once the hammer was dropped, Sunrisers opted to exercise their Right To Match. In response, Super Giants pushed the price up to R14 million - a sum Sunrisers were no longer willing to match.
All-rounder Wiaan Mulder, who went to Super Kings for R9 million, was the third most expensive signing at the auction. Gerald Coetzee (R7.4 million to DSG), Nandre Burger (R6.3 million to JSK), Matthew Breetzke (R6.1 million to SEC), Rassie van der Dussen (R5.2 million to MICT), Ottneil Baartman (R5.1 million to PR) and Anrich Nortje (R5 million to SEC) were the other notably pricy signings.
Kyle Verreynne's signing saw an interesting bit of auction dynamics at play. After initially being sold to Royals at his base price of R200,000, Capitals opted to exercise their Right To Match. Royals responded with a final bid of R2.3 million - an eye-watering hike of 1050% in just one bid - to drain Capitals' interest.
South Africa's Test and ODI skipper Temba Bavuma fetched no bids for the second season in a row. Bavuma had also found no takers at the inaugural SA20 Auction but eventually played for Sunrisers as an injury replacement. He was retained for the following season before being let go. James Anderson, the 43-year-old pacer, was another notable player to go unsold.
Full list of squads for SA20 2026
MI Cape Town
Retentions and pre-signings: Ryan Rickelton, George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada (Wildcard), Rashid Khan, Trent Boult, Nicholas Pooran
Auction picks: Rassie van der Dussen (R5.2 million), Tian van Vuuren (R1 million), Karim Janat (R1 million), Dwaine Pretorius (R650,000), Tristan Luus (R650,000), Reeza Hendricks (R500,000), Jason Smith (R500,000), Tabraiz Shamsi (R500,000), Dan Lategan (R400,000), Tom Moores (R200,000), Dane Piedt (R200,000), Jacques Snyman (R200,000)
Sunrisers Eastern Cape
Retentions and pre-signings: Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen (Wildcard), AM Ghazanfar, Adam Milne, Jonny Bairstow
Auction picks: Matthew Breetzke (R6.1 million), Anrich Nortje (R5 million), Quinton de Kock (R2.4 million), Senuran Muthusamy (R1.5 million), Jordan Hermann (R1.5 million), James Coles (R1 million), Lewis Gregory (R1 million), Lutho Sipamla (R600,000), Chris Wood (R500,000), Patrick Kruger (R450,000), Mitchell van Buuren (R200,000), Beyers Swanepoel (R200,000), Christopher King (R200,000), JP King (R200,000)
Joburg Super Kings
Retentions and pre-signings: Faf du Plessis, Donovan Ferreira (Wildcard), James Vince, Akeal Hosein, Richard Gleeson