The Momentum One Day Cup is the premier domestic one-day cricket competition of South Africa, its matches having List A status. Matches are usually played partly under lights as day-night matches and occasionally get larger crowds than the Test matches.
History
The tournament has been played since the 1982–83 season when five teams competed in the Benson and Hedges Series. The tournament gradually expanded, with eleven teams taking part from 1994–95 onwards, as more and more teams were promoted from the B groups of South African cricket. Two seasons later, it was renamed the Standard Bank League, and then the Standard Bank Cup, but the same teams competed, until Namibia were admitted in 2002–03. The following season was the last with regional teams – in 2004–05 the United Cricket Board of South Africa re-organised the competition, with six franchise teams playing each other home and away. This system has remained, though the tournament was known as MTN Domestic Competition until the 2010–11 season and the One Day Cup for the 2011–12 season. In the 2007–08 season, Zimbabwe took part in the competition as a seventh side, playing both home and away fixtures. Momentum One Day Cup 2017 featured six teams, playing a total of 32 matches. Momentum One Day Cup 2018 was the 37th season of domestic cricket.
They played each other twice home and away in November–December 2012 followed by a play-off and final. The top team qualifies automatically for the final with the teams placed second and third having a play-off to meet the top team in the final. In 2012–13 the competition followed the 2011–12 season when it reverted to a 50 overs a side tournament with 11 players per side to mirror the ICC Standard One Day International match playing conditions. In 2010–11, it was a 40 over competition with 13 players allowed in each team. In 2009–10, it was a 40 over competition with 12 players allowed in each team. Points system:
Win: 4 points
Tie, no result or abandoned: 2 points
Loss: 0 points
Bonus points: 1 point awarded if the winning team achieves a run rate of at least 1.25 times that of the opposition.
In the event of teams finishing on equal points, the top three places are determined in the following order of priority:
The team with the most wins;
If still equal, the team with the most wins over the other team who are equal on points and have the same number of wins;
If still equal, the team with the most bonus points;
If still equal, the team with the highest net run rate.
