South Africa vs. England, 1st ODI: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info and Preview

South Africa and England begin their five-match ODI series in Bloemfontein on Wednesday.

Date: Wednesday, February 3 2016

Time: 1:30 p.m. local, 11:30 a.m. GMT

Venue: Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein

Live Stream and TV Info: Sky Sports 2 (UK) and SuperSport (South Africa)

Weather: It's going to be hot and sticky for the first part of this fixture, according to AccuWeather.com. Temperatures will peak at 32 degrees Celsius during the day, dipping down to around 16 degrees in the evening.

Overview: 

After the disappointing loss of the Test series, South Africa will be searching for some solace in the shorter formats of the game. The A-team was hammered by 163 runs in the warm-up, but South Africa will have slightly more confidence with the likes of AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock all lining up. 

South Africa will, however, be without the services of Dale Steyn for the entire series, while Vernon Philander will be monitored after the first two games.

Kyle Abbott, Morne Morkel and Kagiso Rabada are all part of the squad, but they will have to make do without Abbott for the first two ODIs as he continues to struggle with a tight hamstring.

Marchant de Lange has been added as cover, but his figures of two for 69 in the warm-up match do not inspire too much confidence. Rabada is also likely to be given some rest at some point in the series, but that might now come later rather than sooner.

For England, it’s a chance to continue their regeneration as an exciting team who plays to have fun. The bad news is that Jason Roy is a doubt with an injury after sitting out England’s net practice this week, as reported by ESPNCricinfo.

With so many injuries in the South African side, though, England definitely have the advantage. Bloemfontein is one of South Africa’s smaller venues so the batsmen should have a good day out. The Proteas will need their star players to fire if they have any hope, though, especially with the bowling lineup looking thin.

Key players

South Africa

AB de Villiers hit a slump in form during the Test series and will be looking to make up for some of those lost runs. This is the venue he made his ODI debut at almost 11 years to the day, also against England. He scored just 20 in that match which ended up as a tie, but he's a much different player now.

England 

Stuart Broad was a late addition to the ODI squad, but if he plays, he's going to be a handful. Broad has hit purple patch after purple match recently and will be a key bowler for England, especially against South Africa's top order.

Squads

England: Joe Root, Alex Hales, James Taylor, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Reece Topley, David Willey, Jason Roy, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Eoin Morgan, Liam Plunkett

South Africa: Hashim Amla, David Miller, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Jean-Paul Duminy, Kyle Abbott, Farhaan Behardien, Rilee Rossouw, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir, Quinton de Kock, Chris Morris, Marchant de Lange, David Wiese

All information obtained firsthand, unless otherwise stated.