John Michael Poole: I think Afghanistan will be on the end of an almighty backlash from South Africa today!

Paceman Dawlat Zadran opens up from the other end. A bustling action and plenty of swing. De Kock, though, is timing it like a Swiss watchmaker - a heat-seeking yorker on his toes is beautifully clipped away through mid-on for his fourth boundary. And he's too good to miss out on that - full outside off and bludgeoned to the point boundary. South Africa off to a flyer again.

Vic Marks
Ex-England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

"It is not a full house but there is still quite a crowd in. There is going to be an atmosphere. De Kock is already up and running. His placement is just fantastic. There are five men but he played two cut shots and beat the field both times. He is in glorious form."

De Kock flays one through the covers to make it three boundaries from the over - he's off to a rollicking start. Can the more classical Amla match that tempo?

Not there, Hamza - second ball he throws one short and wide, which is like throwing a juicy steak into the shark pool. De Kock seizes on it and cuts powerfully for four. Too short from the next ball and this time De Kock sweeps and finds the boundary on the other side.

Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla stride out to the middle - they absolutely pulverised England for 10 overs. Afghanistan, wisely, are opening with spin - Hamza Hotak to bowl...

Vic Marks
Ex-England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

"If someone had told us in the 80s that we would be covering South Africa v Afghanistan, we would have thought they were mad. South Africa weren't playing and Afghanistan weren't even thought of in terms of cricket."

Time for the anthems. Something's amusing AB de Villiers, who allows himself a quick snigger during the South African tune.

Afghanistan are very much this tournament's wild card. They are probably not good enough to win enough games to qualify, but they are certainly capable of springing one surprise result that could be crucial in determining who qualifies from this group.

Yes, it was a chastening start to the tournament for South Africa as once again, they somehow managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

For 20 overs, they were brilliant as they hammered England to every part of Mumbai, with Hashim Amla and Quinton De Kock striking brilliant fifties as they racked up 229-4.

And then it all started to go very wrong. Kagiso Rabada and Dale Steyn bowled as if they'd been handed a bar of soap, Jason Roy and Joe Root attacked remorselessly, and somehow, the Proteas ended up on the losing side.

The result leaves them fourth out of five teams in Group 1, and means they can ill-afford another slip-up today.

Vic Marks
Ex-England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

"South Africa need to make sure there are no slip-ups this time round. Afghanistan have an excellent looking bowling attack, although they don't have the depth or record of batting of the senior sides. There were moments when Sri Lanka were struggling against them the other day. Afghanistan spoiled it with three basic errors in the field that allowed Sri Lanka to romp in."

Just that one change for South Africa, three for Afghanistan.

South Africa XI: Q de Kock, H Amla, F du Plessis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, D Miller, C Morris, K Abbott, D Wiese, K Rabada, I Tahir

Afghanistan XI: M Shahzad, N Zadran, A Stanikzai, G Naib, M Nabi, S Shenwari, N Zadran, R Khan, A Hamza, D Zadran, S Zadran

Afghanistan captain Ashgar Stanikzai says he too would have batted. 

"The wicket is looking good and it's a high-scoring ground," he says. "We'd be happy with 150 or 160."

Some interesting quotes from Faf on that defeat to England.

"To be honest with you I was shellshocked," he says. "Hopefully our bowlers can learn from their mistakes.

He says he opted to bat as he doesn't know that much about Afghanistan but thinks their spinner could come into it. David Wiese is the man to replace Steyn, "to give us a bit of versatitlity".

Image source, Getty Images

Former Australia bowler Brendon Julian conducting the toss in a pair of chinos that I could only describe as 'eye-watering'.

Faf du Plessis wins the toss and opts to have a bat. The headline news: Dale Steyn is dropped.

Hello and welcome to live text and TMS coverage and in-play highlights of Day Six of the World Twenty20 from India.

Group 1 in action today. Later we'll see West Indies take on Sri Lanka, but first, it's time for South Africa v Afghanistan.

The toss is imminent...

Played 12. Won 0. South Africa's record in major global tournaments contains more improbable pratfalls than a middling British sitcom of the 1980s.

There was the one where Allan and Lance got their wires crossed. The one where Shaun misread the rain rules. The one where JP knocked the ball out of Farhaan's hands. The one where Del Boy fell backwards through the...well, you get the idea.

The latest instalment saw the Proteas somehow fail to defend 230 against England - a team intent on a few comedic stylings of their own. 

They don't like the word 'chokers' in South Africa. But here we are once again at a major tournament, with someone needing to perform the metaphorical Heimlich manoeuvre...