South Africa vs. West Indies 3rd Test: Date, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

South Africa and West Indies begin their third and final Test at Newlands in Cape Town, with the hosts 1-0 up in the series and needing just a draw to secure  a series victory.

Dates: Friday, Jan. 2 - Tuesday, Jan. 6

Start time: 8:30 a.m. GMT (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:  Bad weather is usually not a problem in Cape Town this time of the year, and the forecast on AccuWeather.com reflects as much. It's going to be hot and sunny with no rain and temperatures reaching 26 degrees Celsius for every day of the match. 

Overview

After the weather wreaked havoc in the second Test between South Africa and the West Indies, the two sides will try again at Newlands, starting on Friday. After South Africa completed such an emphatic victory in the first Test, they were frustrated in more ways than one in the second.

Their first source of frustration came in the form of a partnership between Kraigg Brathwaite and Marlon Samuels, who both scored centuries, as West Indies seemingly found a competitive bone. All that hard work was ruined by days and days of rain with hours of play lost and the match eventually resulting in a draw due to so much bad weather.

All that is past them now, though, and they look forward to a new challenge as the New Year dawns. South Africa must win the series in order to remain the No. 1-ranked team in the world.

The Windies bowler showed enough discipline in Port Elizabeth to prove that there is some fight to them yet, but South Africa are not a team to take a challenge lying down, especially not after a chance to prove themselves was taken away from them.

In PE, Dale Steyn went wicket-less for only the second time ever in his entire career, and he will no doubt be fired up. The rest of the bowling line-up, too, will have more favourable conditions from the Newlands wicket, while the batting line-up have mostly been in good form throughout the series.

Changes to the side aren’t really expected, with only one exception. Uncapped spinner Simon Harmer has been added to South Africa’s squad, and he could come in to replace Imran Tahir, which will mean that the hosts have capped three players on this tour.

Harmer had a solid domestic season last year and is second on the wicket-takers list this season with 17 wickets at an average of 26.17. It might seem unlike South Africa to usher in so many new faces, but with two tours to the subcontinent next year (Bangladesh and India), they need to try out all their options.

Key players

South Africa

Dale Steyn had a slow start to the series, where he had to wait until the fourth morning of the first Test for his first wicket. Then, in PE, he did not manage a single wicket. Nothing fires up South Africa's pace ace more than frustration, and he'll be ready to roll come the first morning of the New Year's Test.

West Indies

Marlon Samuels showed that he can be relied on when push comes to shove and scored a fine hundred in difficult conditions in PE to help his side into a strong position. West Indies will need more from him if they hope to have any success in Cape Town.

Squads

South Africa: Alviro Petersen, Dean Elgar, Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Stiaan van Zyl, Temba Bavuma, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir, Kyle Abbott, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Simon Harmer

West Indies: Kraigg Brathwaite, Devon Smith, Leon Johnson, Marlon Samuels, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Denesh Ramdin, Jason Holder, Jerome Taylor, Sulieman Benn, Shannon Gabriel, Keon Peters, Narsingh Deonarine, Chadwick Walton, Sheldon Cottrell, Jermaine Blackwood

All quotes and information obtained firsthand.