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

World Cup 2015's two African representatives meet for the first Pool B encounter at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Sunday.

South Africa are one of the favourites to win the ODI tournament in Australia and New Zealand, while Zimbabwe are widely unfancied to even make it out of the group.

However, tensions will be running high for the opener and history shows that upsets are not uncommon on the biggest one-day stage of them all.

Read on for a full preview of the encounter as well as complete television, live streaming and scheduling information.

Date: Sunday, Feb. 15

Time: 2 p.m. local, 1 a.m. GMT

TV Info: Live on  Sky Sports 2 (UK)  

Live Stream: Sky Go

Preview

Phil Walter/Getty Images

Purely based on the pair's final warm-up matches ahead of Sunday's opening encounter, Zimbabwe should be considered favourites to beat South Africa.

While the Proteas were hammered by 134 runs by New Zealand on Wednesday, Zimbabwe pulled off a shock seven-wicket victory over subcontinent heavyweights Sri Lanka.

Hamilton Masakadza's brilliant unbeaten 117 was the key to Zimbabwe's successful chase against Sri Lanka, and as ESPN Cricinfo's Firdose Moonda noted, the No. 3 batsman will take huge confidence from such an impressive knock:

However, while warm-up matches can be beneficial in gaining crucial game time, the results are largely irrelevant to the business of the World Cup proper.

The fact of the matter is, South Africa are a far better cricketing outfit than their Hamilton opponents, not least proven by the fact that they sit seven places above Zimbabwe in the ICC rankings as the world's No. 3 ODI side.  

Key men Dale Steyn and Hashim Amla will return for the Proteas on Sunday—having missed the New Zealand clash per Wisden India's Dileep Premachandran—and will be hugely motivated as they start their World Cup campaign:

South Africa have quality from top to bottom. In the batting department, Amla is joined by the likes of David Miller, JP Duminy and the incomparable AB de Villiers.

With the ball, along with Steyn—arguably the world's best bowler—coach Russell Domingo can call on Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell and tricky spinner Imran Tahir.

Unsurprisingly, many are tipping South Africa to go all the way in this year's World Cup, despite consistently under-performing in previous editions, per The Telegraph's Jonathan Liew:

They will be eager to make a convincing start against Zimbabwe and are unlikely to be troubled if they put on a good display.

However, the Zimbabweans do have some quality of their own, and they have beaten South Africa in a World Cup before—back in 1999 they pulled off a shock 48-run victory in the group stages.

Along with Masakadza, Zimbabwe have some batting depth with keeper Brendan Taylor—who scored 63 against Sri Lanka—and skipper Elton Chigumbura.

Experienced bowler Prosper Utseya will also need to be on form if Zimbabwe are to restrict South Africa with the bat and take regular wickets.

Realistically, though, Zimbabwe's chances of success against De Villiers' side are minimal, with Ireland and the UAE more likely Pool B scalps for the African side.

South Africa have the ability to beat any team in the world and will be looking for a fast start to their World Cup campaign, meaning Zimbabwe need a minor miracle if they are to cause an upset.