Brevis, Markram earn record sums at SA20 2025-26 auction

Dewald Brevis, the holder of the highest individual T20I score for South Africa, broke the SA20 pay record when he was picked up for R16.5 million (US$945,000 approx.) by Pretoria Capitals (PC) at the auction on Tuesday night.

Bidding for Brevis, whose base price was R500,000 ($28,500 approx.), was opened by Joburg Super Kings (JSK). They were in a fierce battle with Paarl Royals (PR) up until the R10 million mark. PR, who only had a purse of R14.5 million going in, then opted out but PC entered the contest. They had a bidding war with JSK, who offered R16 million, but bowed out when PC raised it by R500,000. PC used up more than half their available purse of R32.5 million on Brevis.

Brevis also became the second player to break the R10 million mark, 12 minutes after South Africa's T20I captain and two-time title-winning captain at Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC) Aiden Markram sold for R14 million to Durban's Super Giants (DSG). Markram was hotly contested between DSG and PC, with DSG winning the final bid at R12.4 million. SEC exercised their right to match card but DSG increased the bid to R14 million and SEC let Markram go. Markram could be in the running to captain DSG, whose former leader Keshav Maharaj opened the auction and was picked up by PC for R1.7 million.

The double champions came into the auction with 14 player slots available and looking for a new captain after they did not retain Markram. Assistant coach Russell Domingo announced that Tristan Stubbs, the only player they retained, would lead the side despite the acquisition of Matthew Breetzke, who was their most expensive purchase at R6.1 million ($350,000 approx.). Breetzke will reunite with his former DSG team-mate Quinton de Kock, also a captain but a reluctant one, who was acquired reasonably cheaply for R2.4 million ($137,000 approx.).

SEC's coup was scooping Anrich Nortje for R5 million ($285,000 approx.) to join forces with Marco Jansen in leading their attack. Their other key bowlers are Patrick Kruger, Lutho Sipamla and Senuran Muthusamy, while they filled their squad in the accelerated round with James Coles, Chris Wood, Lewis Gregory and CJ and JP King.

Defending champions MI Cape Town (MICT) went into the auction with the smallest purse of R11.5 million ($656,000 approx.) and spent almost half of it on getting back batter Rassie van der Dussen, for whom they paid R5.2 million ($298,000 approx.). They got Reeza Hendricks at a steal for R500,000 ($28,500 approx.) and held on to Dane Piedt and Tristan Luus and will go into Season 4 with a squad that most resembles their previous one.

While it stands to reason that a successful team would privilege continuity, the opposite applies to those who have struggled and it was all change for PC, DSG and JSK.

After acquiring Brevis and Maharaj, PC added Lungi Ngidi, who plays his domestic cricket at SuperSport Park, Lizaad Williams, Saqib Mahmood, Codi Yusuf and Craig Overton in what will be a powerful attack.

DSG stacked their squad cleverly with quicks including Kwena Maphaka and Gerald Coetzee (R7.4 million - $420,000 approx.), allrounder Eathan Bosch and international Test batters David Bedingham and Tony de Zorzi. In addition to Noor Ahmad and Sunil Narine, who they had on their books before the auction, they added Bangladesh's Taijul Islam.

JSK spent R9 million ($513,000 approx.) on the Johannesburg-based allrounder Wiaan Mulder, who has stepped up across all formats for South Africa, and R6.3 ($360,000 approx.) to hold on to left-arm quick Nandre Burger. Recovering from lower back stress fractures, Burger was unable to play last season and JSK will hope he can be an asset at the Wanderers.

They also bought offspin-bowling allrounder Prenalen Subrayen, whose action was cleared by an independent testing centre recently after he was reported in Australia. They also bought back Imran Tahir, who was unsold until the final round but eventually secured another appearance in a T20 league. Right at the end, they also pocketed Reece Topley, who could be a handful on the Highveld.

PR entered the accelerated round still needing eight players with just R3.18 million remaining while JSK needed nine players with R3.60 million remaining, both of which speak to how difficult the first four-and-a-half hours the auction was for them. PR's most expensive buy was Kyle Verreynne, who had a base price of R200,000, which PC matched. PR pulled out all the stops and paid R2.3 million ($131,00 approx.) for him. They also bought Ottneil Baartman and Gudakesh Motie, whose styles of bowling should suit the slow, low pitch in Paarl. PR also got in Jersey batter Asa Tribe for R200,000. Tribe, 21, hit five successive fifty-plus scores in each of his last five List-A matches, including a hat-trick of centuries - two for Glamorgan and one for Jersey.

What they lacked was an out and out quick with Ngidi gone to PC and Maphaka bought by DSG for what ended up being steals at R2.3 million each, but they picked up Hardus Viljoen in the accelerated round for R200,000 and Eshan Malinga in the second accelerated round for R1 million ($57,000 approx.). PR's auction seemed to go badly as Kumar Sangakkara routinely held his hands across his face but they picked up legspinner Nqabayomzi Peter and Sri Lankan allrounder Vishen Halambage right at the end.

Notable unsold players included Andile Phehlukwayo and Junior Dala from a South African perspective, and Mustafizur Rahman, Kusal Perera, Jayden Seales, Jimmy Anderson and Moeen Ali among the international names.