With some top class players such as Ab de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan set to feature during the South Africa-England clash at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, Friday, viewers can expect to witness a flurry of fours and sixes. England will be determined to get their first win of the World T20 2016 against South Africa after their loss to West Indies.
A wonderful and entertaining game of T20 cricket is expected with England and South Africa aware of each other's weaknesses. England and South Africa were involved in an exciting two-match T20 series in February, where the Proteas played some wonderful cricket to emerge triumphant.
The stage cannot get any better for England if they are thinking of taking revenge for their loss. During the series, South Africa showed their batting strength with players such as de Villiers shining in front of his home crowd. De Villiers, who is set to open, will once again hold the key at the top of the order for South Africa.
Ahead of their opener, captain du Plessis praised de Villiers for being a wonderful batsman.
"The fact that what makes him [AB] so good is he doesn't rely on one or two areas," ESPN Cricinfo quoted du Plessis as saying. "And generally that comes with more on difficult wickets. As a batsman the more options you have [the more] you can be successful."
De Villiers should be an even more confident batsman as he has good memories of his last match in Mumbai, where he scored 61-ball 119 against India in an ODI. Besides de Villiers, England bowlers need a way to stop batsmen such as Quinton de Kock, David Miller and de Plessis.
However, England have an advantage as they played in the same venue a few days ago. Though they lost, England bowlers are aware as to what to expect from the pitch. They must have learnt some lessons during their loss to West Indies.
Spinners Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali need to be on top of their game as the pitch is expected to assist the spinners. However, England pace battery including Reece Topley, Ben Stokes and David Willey have to provide early breakthroughs.
England are a much better batting unit so they are also going to depend on their batsmen to help them emerge victorious. All their batsmen played a good hand for England against West Indies, but they need to perform once again and hope South Africa batsmen fail in their first match.
Click here to watch Amla and Kock's performance during powerplay
Where to watch live
England vs South Africa World T20 is set to begin at 7.30 p.m. IST (2 p.m. GMT, 9 a.m. ET). Star Sports 1, Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD1 and Star Sports HD3 will provide live TV coverage for viewers in India and the rest of South Asia. Viewers can also watch England vs South Africa World T20 live streaming on Starsports online and Hotstar.
Willow TV and Willow TV Online are the places to be to watch the England vs South Africa World T20 on TV and online in the US and Canada.
Sky Sports 2 will broadcast the match live in the UK , while the live stream option is on Watch Sky Sports.
Viewers in New Zealand can watch England vs South Africa World T20 live on Sky Sport and Sky Go NZ. Fox Sports will show the World T20 2016 match live in Australia, while the live streaming option is on Foxtel.
Audience in South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa will be able to watch England vs South Africa World T20 live on SuperSport 2, with the online live stream option SuperSport Live Video
