South Africa vs. West Indies: 1st Test: Date, Live Stream, TV Info and Preview

Dates: Wednesday, Dec. 17 - Sunday, Dec. 21

Start time: 8:30 a.m. BST (10:30 a.m. local time)

TV and live stream: SuperSport (South Africa), TEN Cricket (India), PTV Sports (Pakistan), Orbit Show Network (Middle East), Willow TV (USA), SkySports (UK)

Weather: This time of year is notorious for thunderstorms in Pretoria and the weather forecast agrees. AccuWeather.com predicts a thunderstorm for almost every day of the Test.

Overview

South Africa are expected to win their three-match series against the West Indies. As the No. 1-ranked team in the world, they should win the series convincingly.

However, that does not mean that the series will be without challenges. First, there will be the weather. Play at Centurion is likely to be interrupted by quite a few thunderstorms, but they should not be so bad that a whole day’s play is abandoned. Storms in the area are usually isolated and come in the afternoon for a few hours. South Africa will have to build their strategy around the chance of intermittent interruptions.

The second challenge is plugging the gap left by JP Duminy. Duminy is unlikely to play any part in the series and Stiaan van Zyl is likely to take his place. Van Zyl was the top run scorer in last year’s domestic four-day competition and will most likely bat out of position at No. 7. The rookie will have to adapt but, luckily, there are plenty of highly-skilled players around him to help make the transition easier.

What Duminy’s absence also means is that, if South Africa were to opt for an all-pace attack, there is very little in the way of part-time spin bowling to get through the overs. Dean Elgar can turn his arm over, but he’s hardly consistent. This might force South Africa’s hand into selecting Robin Peterson. Dane Piedt, who had an impressive debut against Zimbabwe earlier in the year, is also still out injured. Peterson has been recalled as cover.

Most of the South African players have had plenty of limited-overs cricket over the last few months, but they have not played a Test since August.

The West Indies, meanwhile, have had just one tour match to try to acclimatise. The three-day game was drawn with one day lost due to rain. Sheldon Cottrell was impressive with the ball, picking up five wickets. With the bat, Devon Smith and Marlon Samuels impressed scoring 174 and 203 respectively. Lower down the order, Denesh Ramdin also notched up an unbeaten 48, but that's hardly match practice.

There is no Chris Gayle as he has been ruled out through injury, so West Indies will have to rely on some of their untested players to step up.

South Africa are the unmistakable favourites and expectations will be high. How South Africa respond to the pressure in the first Test will set the tone for the remainder of the series.

Key players

South Africa

With so much talent in the team, you could easily say that all of South Africa's players are key players. However, for this Test, Dale Steyn will be crucial. The fast and bouncy track of Centurion will offer the perfect opportunity to continue his good form and rake in the wickets.

West Indies 

Marlon Samuels has become quite a reliable player for the West Indies in recent years. Prior to the abandonment of the India series, Samuels scored two hundreds in three matches in ODIs. He's played just one Test this year, though, against New Zealand in Kingston back in June. He made a duck in that match, but his form is much better now.

Squads

South Africa: Hashim Amla (capt), AB de Villiers (vice-capt), Alviro Petersen, Dean Elgar, Faf du Plessis, Stiaan van Zyl, Quinton de Kock, Vernon Philander, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Temba Bavuma, Kyle Abbott, Kagiso Rabada.

West Indies: Denesh Ramdin (capt), Sulieman Benn, Jermaine Blackwood, Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sheldon Cottrell, Shannon Gabriel, Devon Smith, Jason Holder, Leon Johnson, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Chadwick Walton.