A blitzkrieg beginning

An aggregate of 449 runs, an individual century, 25 sixes - all in the scenic settings of Newlands to get the season going. Durban Super Giants and MI Cape Town gave the fans and the season a fantastic start as the latter nearly chased down the former's 232/5. That essay was built through many contributions - Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Aiden Markram, Evan Jones, and proved the sum of all parts is often more valuable in this format. Ryan Rickelton smashed 63-ball 113 in chase, but that and Jamie Smith's 14-ball 41 were the only notable batting efforts. Rickelton alone hit more sixes than all the DSG batters combined but that was only a highlight, without impacting the result.

The ignominy of 49 allout

Paarl Royal earned an unwanted record - the lowest SA20 total. The team that finished second last season were ripped apart in their first game of the season, largely thanks to a rip roaring spell from Anrich Nortje. The seeds of the extraordinary evening for the Sunrisers Eastern Cape was sowed by Marco Jansen and Adam Milne in the PowerPlay. Nortje drove the dagger deeper into Royals' heart in the sixth over with the first of his four wickets. Just past the halfway mark, Nortje bowled a triple-wicket over that hastened the end of Royals.

The only respite in this unpleasant experience for the Royals was that it was the first game of the season and there was plenty of room to bounce back. David Miller all but echoed the idea that the only way from there was up. "It's our first game. A lot of younger guys in the team, and I think they'll learn pretty quickly. And we're all in it together, and I'm actually looking forward to how we bounce back in a couple of days' time," Miller said.

The thrill of a Super Over

Wanderers got a game and a half to start off the new year on January 1. Jo'burg Super Kings and Durban Super Giants didn't just produce a 200-v-200 game, they dragged it to a Super Over. Before it got there, the game had a lot to offer along the way. Faf du Plessis blazed away in the PowerPlay, Shubham Ranjane (50 off 31) and Donovan Ferreira (33* off 10) tonked sixes. There were some extremes too - Eathan Bosch conceded 56 in 4 overs, David Wiese went for 53 in only three but Noor Ahmad sent down 14 dots, conceded 12 runs and picked three wickets.

Not until Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen and Evan Jones took charge through the middle-overs that Durban Super Giants' chase came to life. In fact it got to a place where the chase was DSG's to lose. 19 off 12 should've been gettable but some late drama - caused by a run out, triggered a flip in narrative. Only four runs came off the penultimate over by Richard Gleeson, giving Wiaan Mulder 15 to defend.

Straightforward from there? No, more drama. Eathan Bosch slammed a second-ball six and the equation was down to 7 off 2. The sequence of deliveries from this point on read: wide, wide, FOUR, WICKET. The wicket was through a Ferreira direct hit from behind the stumps as Simon Harmer and Bosch tried to steal a winning single. Richard Gleeson bowled a top-class super-over, only five runs coming from it. It was too little to defend, even for the unfazed Noor.

Rain, rain didn't go away

Durban, Johannesburg and Centurion have all had rains disrupt a game each. Durban Super Giants were part of two of those, taking away just a point apiece from those games.

The best so far...

It's still early days - only 10 games in (with three washouts), but Ryan Rickelton expectedly sits at the top of the batting charts with 182 runs in three innings, scored at a strike rate of 182. Nobody has scored more fours and sixes than the opener - 14 each. Sunrisers Eastern Cape's Jordan Hermann has hit as many fours but the next best six-tally belongs to Quinton de Kock (8). Paarl Royals' fast bowler Ottneil Baartman tops the wickets charts with 9, closely followed by Gleeson with 8.