Australia vs. New Zealand, World T20: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

Having already turned over tournament hosts India, New Zealand will be hoping to record a second successive upset when they face Australia at the ICC World Twenty20 on Friday.

Kane Williamson's side opened the Super 10 stage of the competition with a surprisingly comfortable 47-run win in Nagpur on Tuesday.

Now they face their trans-Tasman rivals at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala with a chance to really take a grip on Group 2, which also includes Bangladesh and Pakistan.

As for Australia, they are yet to win the World T20. They were beaten finalists in 2010, losing to England, but they failed to qualify for the semi-finals two years ago in Sri Lanka.

Date: Friday, March 18, 2016

Time: 3 p.m. local (9:30 a.m. GMT / 5:30 a.m. ET)

Venue: Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala, India

Live Stream and TV Info: Channel 9 and Fox Sports (Australia), Ariana TV Network (Afghanistan), BTV (Bangladesh), ESPN Star and Star Sports (India), SkySports NZ (New Zealand), Sky Sports 2 (UK), Willow TV (subscription, USA and Canada), PTV Sports and Ten Sports (Pakistan), SuperSport (South Africa), OSN Sports (Middle East)

Weather: According to the Weather Channel, there is an 80 per cent chance of rain in Dharamsala. Temperatures will be cool, but the concern for the teams will be the serious possibility of a washout.

Overview

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Talk about throwing a cat among the pigeons. New Zealand, minus the retired Brendon McCullum and opting not to pick leading seamers Trent Boult and Tim Southee, left the entire nation of India stunned with their performance in Nagpur.

A total of 126 for seven didn't look like being enough for the Black Caps, particularly as their opponents were on a seven-game winning streak in the format.

Yet India—regarded as fine players of spin—were bowled out for just 79 on a turning surface.

The decision to leave out Boult and Southee may have raised eyebrows when the XI was revealed at the toss, but it was hailed as a tactical masterstroke in the immediate aftermath to the victory. Wisden editor Lawrence Booth was certainly impressed:

The selection of three front-line slow bowlers spectacularly paid off, as the trio of Mitchell Santner (four for 11), Ish Sodhi (three for 18) and Nathan McCullum (two for 15) ripped through India.

Skipper Williamson rather stated the obvious after the game, per David Ruse of Sky Sports: "It was tough to leave out Boult and Southee, but the spinners paid off."

There is little time for them to bask in the glory of their victory, however.

Boult and/or Southee could be recalled at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, a venue where India chased down a target of 200 in October 2015 to beat South Africa.

Considering the poor forecast, the captains may spend more time looking up at the Dharamsala sky, rather than focusing their eyes down at the pitch.

Australia prepared for the tournament with a 2-1 T20 series win away in South Africa, although they were beaten by West Indies in a warm-up fixture on Indian soil on Sunday.

They have used their recent outings to test different combinations and take a look at their bowling options. Now, though, they need to work out just who is in their best XI.

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Adam Zampa seems likely to be selected. The leg-spinner has impressed captain Steve Smith, per Sam Ferris of Cricket Australia: "He's got a lot of variations. He reads the batsmen really well which I think is very important in this format of the game and he's very confident in his skill set."

Slow left-armer Ashton Agar is also in the 15-man squad, while Smith can also lean on batsman Glenn Maxwell for a bit of off-spin.

If they choose to go with the all-round duo of Mitchell Marsh and Shane Watson, Australia will have a plentiful supply of bowling options.

As for their batting, David Warner was at four in the order in the second and third T20 games against the Proteas, an experiment that yielded knocks of 70 and 33 in back-to-back victories. His continuation in the role would create a spot for either Usman Khawaja or Watson to open alongside Aaron Finch.

Key Players

Australia

With Mitchell Starc missing through injury, James Faulkner's role in the attack takes on even greater importance.

The all-rounder's ability to bowl a variety of different deliveries, including a superb slower ball that comes out the back of his hand, will likely see Smith use him in the closing overs of an innings.

Faulkner's economy rate is a tad high at the top level—he is going at 8.23 runs an over, per ESPN Cricinfo—but his haul of 19 wickets in 15 games suggests he can stem the flow of runs by dismissing batsmen.

New Zealand

Martin Guptill didn't hang around against India. After smashing the first ball he faced for six down the ground, the opening batsman fell leg before wicket to the very next one bowled by Ravichandran Ashwin.

The right-hander will hope to stick it out in the middle a little longer than two deliveries against Australia, although his T20 record against them is not great.

Guptill's overall career average in the format is 34.12, but he has managed only 47 runs in three knocks against New Zealand's neighbours.

Squads

Australia

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

New Zealand

Kane Williamson (capt), Martin Guptill, Trent Boult, Nathan McCullum, Colin Munro, Luke Ronchi (wk), Ish Sodhi, Ross Taylor, Corey Anderson, Grant Elliott, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee

All stats used in the article are from ESPN Cricinfo.