The Bloemfontein-based Knights have been relegated to the second division of South Africa's domestic competition, while Pietermaritzburg's KZN Inland have been promoted ahead of the 2025-26 season. This is the second time in the current structure that the Knights have dropped down after playing in Division 2 in the 2023-24 season and also the second time KZN Inland have been promoted.
Knights finished last on the integrated promotion-relegation table which takes into account where teams finish across all formats over the course of a season and awards points accordingly. The Knights had two points from their sixth-placed finish in the four-day competition, three from their fifth-place finish in the one-day cup and none from their ending seventh in the T20 competition, which gave them a total of five points, two fewer than the seventh-placed Warriors, who were battling relegation until the final weekend.
This season's final spots were marred by controversy after the Warriors were docked five points for not meeting Cricket South Africa's transformation requirements in the one-day cup. In a match against the Dolphins, they fielded two black African players instead of the required three in their XI and failed to provide a reason for their transgression.
Warriors then lost out on a playoff place, but the records of the match were not expunged, so they retained the win, which saw them finish fourth on the points table, above Knights. Knights were a place behind with three wins and have since sent legal communication to CSA to argue that the win in the match in which Warriors fell foul of the regulations should also be taken away from them, which they argue would then put the Knights in fourth place and the Warriors fifth. However, the Knights' argument appears incomplete as the Warriors still have a higher net run-rate and would finish a place above them.
ESPNcricinfo has established that the only way this could change is if the records from the match in which the Warriors contravened the transformation targets were completely erased. There is no known precedent for this in cricketing history and it is unlikely to occur on this occasion. CSA's Domestic Cricket Executive Eddie Khoza confirmed that the sanction against the Warriors was "done as per administrative conditions governing the domestic league."
That means Knights will have to settle for a spot in the second division, which is essentially a semi-professional league, receives less funding from CSA and struggles to attract attention from sponsors. The last time the Knights were relegated, they lost R5 million (US$257,000) as well as some of their best players including Gerald Coetzee, who moved to the Titans.
The current two-tier domestic system will continue next season, but the system is expected to undergo another overhaul in the near future. Maintaining eight first division and seven second division sides is financially unsustainable for CSA and has faced criticism over the number of games each team plays.
Currently, division one teams play seven matches across all formats, down from ten matches in the old franchise structure. CSA is understood to be considering a proposal to remodel the domestic competition into either eight or 10 professional teams, with more matches for each side, and a smaller, amateur provincial system below that.