The brand new Betway SA20 league has been a huge hit with cricket fans, bringing world class entertainment to those at the stadium, and those watching from their couches at home. Betway was kind enough to invite me to the MI Cape Town v Durban Super Giants match at Newlands on the 13 January 2023, so I thought I’d put a blog post together on my experience.
My SA20 Match Experience
It was my first time attending a SA20 match, and the first time in ages that I’d been to a cricket match at Newlands, so when Betway offered me tickets I couldn’t say no! I caught an Uber to the stadium as I knew I was going to be sipping on a few cold ones, and the ride in was smooth. I was expecting some traffic but the officials had things running like clockwork, and I was dropped off with a quick 2-minute walk to the stadium, where I arrived at the gate, had my tickets scanned, and was in a few minutes before the match started.
I made my way to the President’s Pavilion Suites, where the Betway suite was located (I’ve been there before so, fortunately, knew where to go). An elevator ride up to the 5th floor and I was in the suite. The suite was beautifully decorated, and surprisingly not that busy, with plenty of places to sit inside and on the balcony. I grabbed a beer from the bar and settled down outside to watch the match while waiting for one of my friends to arrive.
Once my friend arrived we grabbed a beer and got stuck into the great variety of snacks on offer. The snacks were delicious but I’d didn’t have too many as we wanted to catch the cricket, and we knew there was going to be dinner served later in the evening.
We settled down outside, where (as I mentioned earlier) there was more than enough seating. Another nice touch was that the staff were really on point, and were constantly coming around checking if anyone needed drinks, as well as clearing up any empty plates or bottles.
The atmosphere at the ground was incredible, I’m not sure on the attendance numbers, but the ground was about 80% – 90% full, which is always a great thing. One of the highlights of the event was the Betway Catch a Million promotion, where you can stand to win a share of R1 million if you catch a six one handed. Each time there was a six everyone stood up and was trying to see if someone in the crowd caught the ball, you could hear a collective groan if they failed to catch it one handed, quality entertainment!
After a while dinner was served, which was a lovely roast lamb and potato curry, with plenty of salads. I wish I’d hadn’t had any snacks earlier because the lamb was on point, but I was too full to go for a second helping. Then it was back to our seats with a few more cold beers to enjoy the rest of the match. The staff came around and handed out a few SA20 bucket hats, which was a nice touch.
Unfortunately things didn’t go so well for MI Cape Town, who ended up losing by 5 wickets, with 21 balls remaining. That didn’t put a damper on what was otherwise a fantastic day at the cricket. Once the match was over I hung around for another beer to wait for the crowds to clear so I could order a Uber and head back home. Overall it was a fantastic experience, the vibe and atmosphere was on point, and the Betway hosted suite was also a major highlight. If you’re a cricket fan then I highly recommend attending at least one match, the tickets for the stands are affordable, and who knows, you could be lucky enough to catch a million! A big thanks to Betway for the invite too. No sixes headed my way, so I’ll have to wait until next time to show off my one handed catching skills!
