South Africa vs. New Zealand, 1st T20: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

South Africa and New Zealand lock horns for the first of two T20s in Kingsmead on Friday.  

Venue: Kingsmead, Durban

Date: Friday, August 14

Start time: 6 p.m. local time, 5 p.m. BST

Live on: SuperSport and SABC (South Africa), SkySports (New Zealand and UK), TEN Sports (India) and Willow TV (USA) 

Weather: Durban is exceptionally pleasant this time of year. It's going to be a cool 22 degrees Celsius during the day, cooling to about 15 in the evening. Durban can get quite humid, though, so it will feel a bit warmer. Weather info via AccuWeather.com.

Overview

South Africa are about to embark on a jam-packed schedule that will cram eight Tests and more than 20 limited-overs matches in between now and March next year. The T20s they will play in this time will serve a purpose, as it will for all other teams—preparation for the World T20 in India next year.

For the most part, South Africa’s team for that tournament picks itself, but there are a few spots that will be closely monitored. One of those spots is that of wicketkeeper. Quinton de Kock has been dropped and sent off to do duty with the A team. Morne van Wyk has replaced him and while it was initially suspected that he would keep wicket and open the batting in the T20s, South Africa's powers that be have decided otherwise. 

South Africa’s coaching staff have already indicated that van Wyk is only going to be a stop-gap solution while everyone waits patiently for De Kock to return to his best, but if he feels somewhat irked about his treatment, you can't blame him.

Also of interest will be the “all-rounder” role. It will most likely be filled by David Wiese, the batting all-rounder with a penchant for breaking partnerships in his bowling role. South Africa also have to pick their spinners. With the subcontinent likely to offer plenty of assistance for the turning bowlers, Aaron Phangiso, rookie Eddie Leie and Imran Tahir are all in contention for a World T20 spot. Tahir, however, has not been selected for the T20 squad against New Zealand and it will between Leie and Phangiso for the two matches. Leie, who had an impressive debut in Bangladesh, might very well get the nod ahead of Phangiso on the turning track in Durban. South Africa now find themselves in a spin-selection conundrum, after going years without having any real spinners.

JP Duminy is the only notable absentee from the T20 squad as he has been granted early paternity leave. New Zealand, meanwhile, have had a decent outing against Zimbabwe and after the showdown these two teams had during the World Cup semi-final, expect fireworks.

Key players

South Africa

Back from daddy duty, AB de Villiers will be raring to go. He missed out on the ODIs and Tests against Bangladesh and South Africa missed their star batsman. Luckily, De Villiers is back to do what he does best: score loads of runs.

New Zealand

Kane Williamson was in sublime form during New Zealand's recent ODI series against Zimbabwe. He scored 187 runs at an average of 93.50 and although he flopped in the one T20 he's played, he's clearly found a purple patch.

Squads

South Africa: David Wiese, Faf du Plessis, Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, AB de Villiers, Eddie Leie, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Aaron Phangiso, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Morne van Wyk

New Zealand: George Worker, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, Matt Henry, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, James Neesham, Ish Sodhi, Ben Wheeler, Doug Bracewell, Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Nathan McCullum, Colin Munro, Luke Ronchi, Kane Williamson

All information obtained firsthand, unless otherwise stated.