South Africa vs New Zealand T20 Series Preview

The growth and popularity of T20 leagues across the world including the Big Bash League and Indian Premier League has helped the excitement grow for the shortest format of cricket. The format itself is designed such that it is intriguing for the viewers and cricket bettors so expect nothing but action and entertainment when South Africa takes on New Zealand in a two-match T20 series.

The two teams are stacked with top players and the series promises to be an interesting one. The first match will be played on Friday followed by the second on Sunday.

The hosts, captained by Faf du Plessis will be boosted by the return of their talisman AB de Villiers. The fleet-footed batsman was absent from the tour of Bangladesh on a paternity leave.

South Africa is a formidable unit in any format, especially in home conditions. The bowling unit will be led by Morne Morkel while David Wiese will try to fill the long-standing all-rounder void. Aaron Phangiso and Eddie Leie will hope to bring the spin factor.

New Zealand will be missing some of their big stars such as Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum and Tim Southee, but the Proteas cannot afford to take the visitors lightly – especially in the shortest format.

Kane Williamson will be captaining the team and is one of the best technically correct batsmen in the world now. Martin Guptill and Luke Ronchi are fierce strikers and should revel in this format. The Black Caps will look to Mitchell McClenaghan and Adam Milne to provide the fire power with the ball.

The visitors will be confident after their series win in Zimbabwe but that counts for nothing. It will be a tough match up against the Proteas and the Black Caps will hope to steal at least one of the two matches, but the Proteas should be too strong at $1.51 at CrownBet.

George Worker comes on the back of a match-winning innings against Zimbabwe. At odds of $4.50 at CrownBet, the Kiwi is an interesting pick to be their best batsman for the first match.

Eddie Leie is a rare bowler of his kind in South Africa – a home-born leg-spinner. At odds of $4.00 at Sportsbet expect him to be their best bowler in the first match.

Both teams will try and assess their stocks as they build up for the T20 World Cup next year. It should be an entertaining series for cricket lovers.