Bangladesh vs. South Africa, 1st T20I: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

Bangladesh and South Africa begin their two-match T20 series in Dhaka on Sunday. It’s the first match in a tour that includes two T20s, three ODIs and two Tests.

Date: Sunday, July 5

Time: 1 p.m. local (7 a.m GMT)

Venue: Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur

Live stream and TV info: SuperSport 201 (South Africa), BTV and Gazi TV (Bangladesh), TEN Sports (Pakistan), Star Sports (India)

Weather: The news on the weather front is not good news. It's monsoon season in Bangladesh and thus, thunderstorms are highly likely. WorldWeatherOnline.com forecasts that dodgy weather is possible for most of the day. 

Overview

Bangladesh have been on the rise over the last few months. After making the World Cup quarter-finals, they recently defeated Pakistan and India in historic series wins. Now, they have another opportunity to add an impressive scalp to their hit list.

South Africa’s T20 side is a far cry from the experience of their Test team. While the batting lineup is packed with some big names like AB de Villiers, David Miller, Faf du Plessis and JP Duminy, the bowling attack is quite green.

The front-line bowlers have just over 50 T20I caps between them, the bulk of those coming from one player: Wayne Parnell. With a busy schedule ahead this year, South Africa have opted to test their second-string bowlers in the shortest format of the game.

If the warm-up game on Friday is anything to go by, though, it hasn't taken long for South Africa's rookies to adjust. The Bangladesh Cricket Board XI were bowled out for just 99 on Friday, with Kyle Abbott, Aaron Phangiso and David Wiese being the chief destroyers.

Still, warm-up matches are different kettle of fish to a competitive match environment. Bangladesh’s recent run of form will certainly give them a confidence boost.

While T20 matches are usually nothing more than a filler during a tour, there is a World T20 to look forward to next year, and every single player will want to be involved and will want to prove themselves whenever opportunities are presented.

The series could very well end up being a fascinating contest, provided the weather plays along, of course.

Key players

Bangladesh

Tamim Iqbal found some fantastic form in the one-day series against Pakistan recently. He struggled in the T20s, but if he can translate some of his recent form into this series, especially against South Africa's rookie bowlers, he could be a real handful.

South Africa

David Wiese played a key role for Royal Challengers Bangalore during this year’s Indian Premier League, and he has long been touted as the answer to South Africa’s No. 7 conundrum. He is an incredibly useful all-rounder who knows how to get the best out of sub-continental tracks. South Africa certainly have the weight of the batting order to pack a punch, but it’s as a back-up bowler where Wiese’s skills will become incredibly useful.

Squads

Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Arafat Sunny, Jubair Hossain, Litton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mustafizur Rahman,Nasir Hossain, Rony Talukdar, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Sohag Gazi, Soumya Sarkar, Mashrafe Mortaza

South Africa: Beuran Hendricks, Quinton de Kock, Rilee Rossouw, AB de Villiers, Jean-Paul Duminy, David Miller, David Wiese,Chris Morris, Kyle Abbott, Aaron Phangiso, Kagiso Rabada, Eddie Leie, Wayne Parnell, Faf du Plessis