Australia vs. South Africa 1st T20: Date, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

Australia and South Africa begin their three-match T20 series in Adelaide on Wednesday.

Venue: Adelaide Oval

Commences: Wednesday, Nov. 5

Start time: 08:35 a.m. GMT and 07:05 p.m. local

Live on: SuperSport (South Africa), Channel 9 (Australia), SkySports (UK), Willow TV (USA and Canada) and Star Sports (India)

Weather: AccuWeather.com predicts that, although it will be cool with temperatures around 18 degrees Celsius, there's no chance of rain. 

Overview

As far as “pointless” T20 limited-overs bilateral series go, this is pretty high on the scale. While a flux of one-day internationals can be justified with a looming World Cup, T20s seem like nothing more than a stopgap.

That becomes even more true for this series where both teams are almost playing “second string” squads. With Australia’s Test players only just returning from their series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates, there will be no David Warner or Mitchell Johnson for the hosts when the two sides slog it out. South Africa have gone a similar route, opting for a number of uncapped players and appointing JP Duminy as captain.

The plus side, of course, is that it will offer South Africa a glimpse into their depth. Players like Under-19 World Cup star Kagiso Rabada will most likely make his debut, while old hands like Imran Tahir, Ryan McLaren and Robin Peterson could also feature.  

From that point of view, the South Africa has found some sort of benefit from the series, but they haven’t gotten off to such a great start. In their warm-up match against a cricket Australia XI, South Africa lost by 22 runs. All of the bowlers, barring Kyle Abbott, got smashed around the park and only Abbott had an economy rate of under 9.00. The batsmen also struggled and only Rilee Rossouw managed a score of substance.

T20 can sometimes be a game of chance, though, and this offers the ideal opportunity for some of South Africa’s rookies to take their chances.

Key players

Australia

Aaron Finch is one of the finest hitters in T20 cricket and now has a chance to prove his worth as captain, too. His last few ODIs against Pakistan weren't that great, he failed to pass 20 on all five occasions, but when he last played against South Africa, he hit 54.

South Africa

Kyle Abbott has a chance to prove his limited-overs skills and lead the attack in the absence of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. He's a fine death bowler and can be damaging with the new ball, too. How his captain uses him will be key.

Squads

Australia: Aaron Finch(c), Ben Dunk(w), Nic Maddinson, Cameron White, Shane Watson, Nathan Reardon, James Faulkner, Ben Cutting, Sean Abbott, Cameron Boyce, Doug Bollinger, Pat Cummins, Kane Richardson.

South Africa: Quinton de Kock(w), Reeza Hendricks, Rilee Rossouw, Jean-Paul Duminy(c), David Miller, Farhaan Behardien, Ryan McLaren, Robin Peterson, Wayne Parnell, Kyle Abbott, Kagiso Rabada, David Wiese, Imran Tahir, Marchant de Lange.