South Africa vs. Australia, 2nd T20I: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

South Africa have a 1-0 series lead in their three-match Twenty20 series against Australia after a three-wicket win at Kingsmead on Friday night. The Proteas will, however, want to improve on their haphazard batting when the two sides meet for the second T20 on Sunday.

Venue: The Wanderers, Johannesburg

Date: Sunday, March 6

Start time: 2:30 p.m local time (12:30 p.m GMT)

Live on: SuperSport (South Africa), Channel 9 (Australia), SkySports (UK), Willow TV (USA and Canada) and Star Sports (India)

Weather: According to AccuWeather.com, it's going to be hot out there on Sunday. The forecast suggests temperatures could creep up to around 30 degrees Celsius, and it doesn't look like there will be a thunderstorm to cool things down.

Overview

On Friday night in Durban, South Africa's cricket resembled something akin to a chameleon on a Rubik's cube. Usually the Proteas blow hot and cold from match-to-match, but at Kingsmead, they did so in the space of just a few overs.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, Australia were left reeling at 104-6, but the hosts allowed the visitors to post 157-9 in 20 overs.

Some of the blame could be pinned on JP Duminy, who conceded 24 runs in one over, but Chris Morris—who went for 35 in three overs—should also shoulder some of the blame. Dale Steyn did not return for this fixture as many expected.

On a slow track, where pace off the ball foxed the Aussies more often than not, chasing was always going to be difficult. And difficult it was with South Africa losing both their openers early on. AB de Villiers departed for a duck, his fifth in all formats this year, before Faf du Plessis led a recovery.

However, he did not get much support from JP Duminy or Rilee Rossouw. It was only thanks to David Miller's unbeaten 53 off 35 balls that South Africa managed to sneak home in the end.

South Africa’s record at the Wanderers is pretty impressive, having won 11 out of the 15 T20s they have played there. And, as always up on the Highveld, the ball travels faster and further, which might mean a return for Dale Steyn. Who South Africa will drop in favour of him remains to be seen.

But even if they have the world’s best bowler in their arsenal, the batting needs a lot of work. The Wanderers' surface is likely to be more conducive to batting so anyone who is short on confidence will need to cash in.

Key players

South Africa

Although Faf du Plessis was frustratingly run out, he did show why he is such an important part of this South African team. His 40 off 26 was the only score over 20 in the top five and, as captain, leading from the front is vital.

Australia

Aaron Finch returned from injury with a bang, hitting 40 off 18 in the first T20. Despite not having any cricket under his belt since picking up a hamstring injury in January this year, Finch reminded everyone what they've missed since he's been gone.

Squads

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

Australia: Steve Smith (captain), Aaron Finch, David Warner, Shane Watson, Peter Nevill (wk), Mitchell Marsh, Andrew Tye, Josh Hazlewood, Ashton Agar, Glenn Maxwell, Adam Zampa, John Hastings, Usman Khawaja, James Faulkner, Nathan Coulter-Nile.

All information obtained firsthand, unless otherwise stated.