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

Date: Friday, 19 February

Time: 6 p.m. local, 4 p.m. GMT

Venue: Newlands, Cape Town

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

Weather: Cape Town is experiencing unusual weather conditions for this time of year and the forecast for the Twenty20 international is no different.

AccuWeather.com suggests there is a chance of showers in the evening and although the website claims that the rain will come and go, the margins for stopping and restarting play is limited in T20, so we might be in for a five-over-a-side shootout.

Overview

After more than two months, England’s tour of South Africa is winding down. It will end with two T20s in quick succession as the teams begin preparations for the ICC World Twenty20, which is due to be held in India in March.

South Africa have a decent T20 record having won 49 of their 82 matches, with 21 out of 36 victories coming on home soil. They have, however had a poor run of form in the format since 2014. Out of the eight fixtures since then, they have won just two, losing five with the other abandoned.

But the nature of T20 means that things are constantly changing and South Africa’s squad is packed with experienced specialists in the format.

David Wiese and Chris Morris have shown during the one-day international series that they’ve got some bottle, something which will help the Proteas and captain Faf du Plessis believes that both can find a place in the side to give the team a boost.

"There's place for both Wiese and Morris. I am a fan of having a long and strong batting line-up," Du Plessis said when the squad was announced. "It comes from my time playing at Chennai [Super Kings]. Make your batting lineup as strong as possible and have four bowlers who can do a job."

With names like Du Plessis, AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla around, the batting lineup speaks for itself, but with the added oomph of Morris and Wiese’s power-hitting, South Africa will consider themselves a threat.

But South Africa are matched pound for pound against England’s batsmen—Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Joe Root and Jason Roy—and it will be exceptional bowling that decides this match, series and, eventually, the World T20.

Having won the ODI series despite being 0-2 down, South Africa will probably feel that the momentum is behind them. However, England managed an impressive 44-run victory in the warm-up fixture in Paarl, so their confidence won't be completely shot.

Key players

South Africa

Man of the moment, Kagiso Rabada, will have another opportunity to prove why he is considered one of the most talented youngsters in cricket. The 20-year-old will have to lead the attack, and if his ODI and Test performances are anything to go by, doing so will be a breeze.

England

Alex Hales has hit form at exactly the right time. A century in the final ODI in Cape Town and 78 off 52 in the warm-up, as well as being the first English cricketer to score five consecutive half-centuries in a single series, means that he's the man to watch.

Squads

South Africa:  Hashim Amla, David Miller, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Jean-Paul Duminy, Kyle Abbott, Farhaan Behardien, Rilee Rossouw, Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir, Quinton de Kock, Chris Morris, David Wiese, Dale Steyn, Aaron Phangiso.

England: Joe Root, Alex Hales, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Reece Topley, David Willey, Jason Roy, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Eoin Morgan, Liam Plunkett, James Vince, Sam Billings.

 All information obtained firsthand unless otherwise stated.