Kane Williamson © Getty Images (File Photo)
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson completed the 50-run opening stand with Martin Guptill in the first Twenty20 International (T20I) against South Africa at Kingsmead in Durban on Friday. The duo took on the pace trio of Kyle Abbott, Kagiso Rabada and Morne Morkel to get their side off to a flying start. While Williamson started slowly during his innings, with Guptill doing the early firing, he soon caught up with his partner and even exceeded him.Williamson, who captains the Black Caps in place of Brendon McCullum, soon was dismissed off the bowling of Aaron Phangiso for a score of 42. LIVE SCORECARD: South Africa vs New Zealand, 1st T20I at Durban
South Africa earlier won the toss and elected to field first, with AB de Villiers captaining the side in place of the injured T20I skipper Faf du Plessis. Morne van Wyk made his comeback into the side as a wicketkeeper, while Aaron Phangiso was picked ahead of Eddie Leie. New Zealand are led by Kane Williamson, who assumes the responsibility in place of Brendon McCullum.
The last time the two sides faced off, New Zealand edged South Africa out of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in the semi-final by four wickets. It was South Africa-born Grant Elliott pulled off the memorable win for New Zealand, smashing Dale Steyn for a six over long-on to bring up the historic moment. While the Proteas will look to avenge that loss, the Black Caps will look to overcome the nightmares of their previous tour of South Africa, when they lost both Tests by innings margins, and were shot out for 45 in the first Test. LIVE UPDATES: South Africa vs New Zealand, 1st T20I at Durban