South Africa vs. New Zealand, 3rd ODI: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

It's all square between South Africa and New Zealand as the two teams head into the third and final match in Durban.

Venue: Kingsmead, Durban

Date: Wednesday, August 26

Start time: 12:30 p.m. local time, 11:30 a.m. BST

Live on: SuperSport and SABC (South Africa), www.cricket.co.za (live streaming for New Zealand), TEN Sports (India) and Willow TV (USA) 

Weather: AccuWeather.com gives the all-clear on the weather front. It's going to be a warm 26 degrees Celsius during the day and temperatures won't drop much in the evening. Durban can be quite humid and there is a chance of some dew as the evening goes on.

Overview

There is a joke going around on social media that goes like this: The only thing the Proteas are consistent with at the moment is having babies. It would be crude if it wasn’t so true, but South Africa’s struggles with consistency in one-day cricket is nothing new. It’s been plaguing them since last year. They can swing from dizzy heights to depressing lows from one game to the next and, sometimes, even in the same game

That’s been the case in this series against New Zealand. In the first ODI, South Africa’s top order did their bit, but faltered toward the end. The bowlers erred, pulled things back, erred again and managed to hold on for the win. In the second match, South Africa were nowhere close to their best. New Zealand deserve heaps of credit for doing well despite not having some of their key players in the squad, but South Africa have been well below par.

With the series at stake in the third and final ODI, South Africa have to pull themselves together if they want to avoid another series loss. Having recently lost a one-day series against Bangladesh, defeat won’t exactly be a surprise, but it will leave the hosts with some serious introspection to do before heading off to India in a few weeks’ time.

South Africa need an improved batting performance all-round and for their bowlers to fire up front if they want to have any hope of avoiding a series defeat in front of their home fans.

Key players

South Africa

After AB de Villiers, nobody gets their eye in quicker than Rilee Rossouw. He has been a solid performer for South Africa in this series and if he can bring his consistency into the third and final ODI, and the rest of South Africa's batsmen step up their game, the hosts will have a chance at winning.

New Zealand

Tom Latham has been "Mr. Consistent" against South Africa. He's not scored a century yet, but two half-tons on the trot have helped New Zealand set a solid foundation every time. Seeing off the new ball a bit has helped the Black Caps launch their innings later on. 

Squads

South Africa

AB de Villiers (c), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Faf duPlessis, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Aaron Phangiso, Vernon Philander,Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn, Morne van Wyk (wk), DavidWiese

New Zealand

Kane Williamson (c), George Worker, 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 (wk)

All information obtained firsthand, unless otherwise stated.