South Africa vs. UAE: Date, Live Stream, TV Info, Cricket World Cup Preview

South Africa will be hoping to bounce back from their shock loss to Pakistan last time out and this upcoming encounter with the United Arab Emirates in Wellington represents the perfect opportunity to get back to winning ways.

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The Associate nation are rooted to the bottom of Pool B having lost all of their matches at the tournament so far. But there have been some standout moments for the UAE and they’ll feel as though they have a few players who can pose problems for their more illustrious opponents.

It’s not as if South Africa have been at their free-flowing best either. Their aforementioned defeat exposed the flaws of this talented but inconsistent team and, up to now, the only top-quality side they have beaten in the tournament is the West Indies.

It’ll be intriguing to see how AB de Villiers’ men get on against the UAE and here’s all the information you need on where to catch the match live.

Date: Thursday, Mar. 12

Time: 1 a.m. (GMT), 9 p.m. (ET, Mar. 11), 2 p.m. (Local)

Live Stream: Sky Go (UK), ESPN Cricket 2015 (US)

TV Info: Sky Sports 2 (US)

South Africa Looking to Get Back to Winning Ways

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When they were tasked with chasing down 232 against Pakistan, South Africa were heavy favourites to go on and triumph. After all, their batting line-up had scored in excess of 400 runs in their previous two encounters and in De Villiers they boast arguably the best batsman in the world right now.

But a collapse of four wickets lost for 10 runs obliterated the top order and despite a valiant 77 from their skipper, the Proteas fell 29 runs short.

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Freddie Wilde of ESPN Cricinfo thinks this group is too reliant on a clutch of individual stars:

There’s little denying that this is a team that needs to find some consistent displays from various individuals. As previously stated, when everything comes together South Africa are a match for any side on the planet, but too often they suffer collapses comparable to the one against Pakistan and it’s a facet of their game they must eradicate.

As noted pretty crassly by comedian Rohan Joshi, they do have a patent for bottling it on the big occasion too:

You suspect there will be no such issue against the UAE, who have yet to secure a victory at this World Cup. Indeed, the Associate nation haven’t won a match at this competition since 1996. But in Shaiman Anwar, they have one of the standout batsmen at this World Cup.

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As noted by Ali Martin of The Guardian, the 35-year-old was actually leading the standings for most runs scored at one point, a stunning achievement for a player from an Associate nation:

But aside from Anwar, there is a dearth of quality in this group and from their perspective, sadly, they don’t have enough to take advantage of the perennial issues that have blighted this Proteas outfit. As they’ve shown in tight clashes against Ireland and Zimbabwe, when the pressure is on they don’t seem to have the nous to get through.

This is a fine chance for some of South Africa's star to get some confidence. Whether it’s the batsmen piling on runs or the bowlers getting wickets against a mediocre batting line-up, there is momentum there to be seized. If they do bat first, then another score in excess of 400 could well be on the cards.