With one week of regular-season action left, the Betway SA20 table has painted a clear picture of the favourites heading into a thrilling final period.
Listen to this article 5 min Listen to this article 5 min The dominant Paarl Royals have sealed their spot in the SA20 playoffs with three more matches to play after recording six victories in their first seven matches of the tournament.
Their provincial neighbours, MI Cape Town - underachievers in the opening two seasons of the SA20 - are hot on their heels with 21 points to Paarl Royals' 24.
The other Cape side, the Sunrisers Eastern Cape, went on a four-match winning run to put themselves among the top crop with 19 points.
Joburg Super Kings have kept themselves in the hunt with a clinical nine-wicket win over the Sunrisers on Sunday to break the Eastern Cape side's winning streak.
Pretoria Capitals and Durban's Super Giants, on nine and eight points respectively, are still in with a mathematical chance of qualifying but the gulf in class between themselves and the other teams has been apparent so far this season.
Spin attack
The formidable Paarl outfit, led by Proteas finisher David Miller, have been particularly effective at home, strangling opposition to death by spin.
In their 11-run victory over Pretoria Capitals on Saturday, in which they successfully defended 140...