South Africa v Afghanistan, World T20: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

A shell-shocked South Africa will be looking to bounce back from their defeat against England when they face Afghanistan in Mumbai on Sunday. 

Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Date: Sunday, March 19

Start time: 3 p.m local time (9:30 p.m GMT)

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

Weather: According to AccuWeather.com, the weather should be all-clear with temperatures crawling up to 34 degrees Celsius in the middle of the day. With it being a day game, there will be no dew to contend with.

Overview

In the space of a few days, South Africa went from suggesting that playing Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers together was not possibly, to doing so with great success.

Against England on Friday, Amla and De Kock opened the batting and piled on 96 runs in just 7.1 overs. Then, in another show of innovation, AB de Villiers and not Faf du Plessis, walked in at three. De Villiers added just 16 runs, but he did so briskly. The fact the Proteas weren't afraid to fiddle the batting lineup should inspire confidence in the tournament going forward.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said about their bowling. In just three overs, England clobbered 56 runs off Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn and Kyle Abbott. In total, they gifted England far too many extra deliveries.

Being unable to defend 229 will take some bouncing back from. Afghanistan will fancy their chances when the two sides meet on Sunday.

Afghanistan’s rise has been enchanting, and while they put in a good effort against Sri Lanka, South Africa will probably be a much-tougher opponent.

However, the Proteas and pressure in ICC events are a volatile mix. They will certainly be under pressure to win this match and win it convincingly. If Afghanistan can somehow manage to exploit that, they might have an outside chance of springing a surprise.

South Africa have the luxury of having played at the venue and having gotten a bit familiar with what is clearly a very good batting track, so they will back themselves to get—or chase—a big total.

Key players

South Africa

This wicket is all about the big hitting, and Quinton de Kock reminded everyone just why he is so potent in limited-overs cricket. He hit 52 off just 32 balls against England. While getting starts is good, seeing it through to the end is vital, as Joe Root showed. De Kock will need to knuckle down and help set a bigger foundation from which the big hitters can launch.

Afghanistan

On this Mumbai track, keeping a lid on the leaking runs is critical. Afganistan will look to Mohammed Nabi's experience to do just that. Against Sri Lanka, Nabi's figures were 4-0-27-1. He will need to be equally tidy against a South African squad that'll have a point to prove.

Squads

South Africa

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

Afghanistan

Asghar Stanikzai, Dawlat Zadran, Hamid Hassan, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Rashid Khan, Shafiqullah Shafiq, Amir Hamza, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Sadiq, Mohammad Shahzad, Noor Ali Zadran, Samiullah Shenwari, Shapoor Zadran, Mirwais Ashraf

All information obtained firsthand, unless otherwise stated.