![SA skipper Faf Du Plessis remains a doubt for the World T20 game against New Zealand. Reuters Faf Du Plessis South Africa](https://data1.ibtimes.co.in/en/full/442617/faf-du-plessis-south-africa.jpg?h=450&l=50&t=50)
New Zealand might not have won their opening match against England like they would have liked -- not that they will not take it - but they would have preferred to have picked up an opening victory having played the entire 40 overs of the match.
[Read the report HERE]
However, a thunderstorm deterred those hopes, and after the umpires controversially decided to stay on just a little longer to allow the minimum five overs to be bowled in the second innings, the Kiwis scampered home past England via the Duckworth/Lewis method.
"In cricket you win some and you lose some, the umpires are trying to make the decisions to the best of their ability," New Zealand fast bowler Kyle Mills said after the narrow win. "They want to get a full game of cricket on, a judgement call as they see it, and it just so happened that we got another over in the game."
Up next for the Kiwis is South Africa, who are still reeling from a comprehensive defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka in their opening match.
The Proteas were far from their best against Sri Lanka, unable to stem the run flow, and allowing the Islanders to post a score 165, which eventually they failed to breach, falling five runs short.
"There were two areas where we lost the game," said AB de Villiers, who captained the team in the absence of the injured Faf Du Plessis. "They certainly got 15 runs too many and we were very poor in the field. They got the extra run on way too many occasions. [There were also] too many extras and we've been guilty of that in the past, so [it is] something we have to work on and have to get right if we're going to do well in this tournament.
"Then we lost wickets at bad times [while batting] -- I got out at a bad time. When it gets close like that and it's a crunch game, you lose wickets at the wrong time and you lose the game. We lost our momentum towards the end, we needed to get it down to no more than eight off [Lasith] Malinga's last over because he's a really good death bowler, we couldn't do that.
"Unfortunately we were just not good enough on the day, I thought we were nowhere near 100 percent and that's the disappointing part. I don't mind losing games if we play at 100 percent but we just weren't good enough."
That loss on Saturday will still be hurting South Africa, but it will also work as a motivator to do a lot better for the next game - if they lose to New Zealand on Monday, SA will not be out of the World T20, but they will be pretty close to bowing out of yet another ICC tournament without going all the way to the final at least.
Where to Watch Live:
World T20 2014: New Zealand vs South Africa Live TV and Streaming Information (Match starts 3.30 pm local time, 3 pm IST, 9.30 am GMT, 5.30 am ET)
Country | TV Broadcaster |
India | Star Sports 1, Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD1 |
US and Latin America | ESPN |
Canada | Sportsnet |
UK and Ireland | Sky Sports |
Middle East and North Africa | OSN Sport Cricket |
Australia | Fox Sports |
Sub Saharan Africa & South Africa | SuperSport |
New Zealand | Sky Sport |
Europe | EuroSport |
Pakistan | PTV and Ten Sports |
Sri Lanka | CSN |
Bangladesh | Bangladesh TV, Maasranga TV and Gazi TV |
Country | Live Streaming info |
India | HERE |
US | HERE |
UK | HERE |
Middle East | HERE |
Canada | HERE or HERE |
Australia | HERE |
South Africa & Sub Saharan Africa | HERE |
Latin America | HERE |
New Zealand | HERE |
Europe | HERE |
Pakistan | HERE or HERE |
Sri Lanka | HERE |
Team news: New Zealand: Brendon McCullum has a fully fit squad to choose from and it is unlikely that the Kiwis will make any changes to the side that beat England.
South Africa: Skipper Du Plessis remains a concern with a hamstring injury which kept him out of the first match. Du Plessis trained on Sunday, but a decision over his availability will be taken only on Monday morning, a few hours before the game. If Du Plessis is not passed fit, then Farhaan Behardien will retain his place in the XI.
Expected lineups: New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Brendon McCullum (capt), Ross Taylor, Colin Munro, Corey Anderson, Luke Ronchi, Nathan McCullum, Tim Southee, Kyle Mills, Mitchell McClenaghan.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla, Faf Du Plessis, AB De Villiers, JP Duminy, David Miller, Albie Morkel, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Imran Tahir.