This 24-year-old South African first grabbed attention with his phenomenal debut for the Jo'burg Super Kings in the inaugural SA20 in 2023. Playing against Durban's Super Giants, Donovan scored a match-winning 40-ball 82* after coming out to bat when the team's scorecard read 27/4, bagging a Player of the Match award in his first outing. The Royals, after having narrowly missed out on securing his services in SA20, eventually bought him in the IPL mini-auction.