After eight defeats in 11 outings, Chennai Super Kings will look to give their forgettable campaign a semblance of respectability when they take on in-form Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League in Dubai on Sunday.
South Africa seamer Dale Steyn grabbed his first Test wicket after an injury absence of 14 months as the hosts fought back against a fired-up India on an enthralling first day of cut-and-thrust cricket in the opening Test at Newlands in Cape Town on Friday.
Lockie Ferguson's inclusion gave the much-needed impetus to the side, but KKR are still struggling with their star all-rounder Andre Russell who capped yet another flop show with the bat.
South Africa's talismanic captain AB de Villiers has recovered from injury and been included in the Proteas squad for the One-day series at home against Australia starting later this month.
South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 87 runs
For KKR, the biggest cause of concern will be the availability of big-hitter Andre Russell, who hurt his knee when he dived into the advertisement boards after missing a catch on Saturday.
Both DC and RCB have looked solid so far and are placed atop the standings with three wins out of four games each.
The dew factor will go out of the window but the searing heat will be an issue when Royal Challengers Bangalore take on a better prepared Rajasthan Royals in the first of the 10 IPL double-headers, in Abu Dhabi, on Saturday.
South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis described Kagiso Rabada's performance as "phenomenal" after the young paceman helped turn a parlous situation on day two of the first Test against Australia into a thumping 177-run victory on Monday. The tourists had done well to get to 242 all out after being 5-81 on day one but were looking down the barrel of a heavy defeat when Australia raced to 158 without loss on day two. Matters got worse when, having finally broken the opening partnership, South Africa's pace spearhead Dale Steyn was forced off the field with a shoulder fracture that ruled him out of the series.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore wicketkeeper stole the show from the Chennai Super Kings glovesman with a crucial match-winning run-out off the final ball of the match.
Opener Aiden Markram made a return to form as he scored 78 to help South Africa into a strong position on the opening day of the second Test against Pakistan at Newlands on Thursday.
IPL has helped English cricket grow and is best tournament after World Cups, feels English 'keeper Jos Buttler.
The 33-year-old Steyn returned home for the operation in Cape Town, which was performed on Thursday, and had a screw inserted in his right shoulder blade.
James Taylor and Nick Compton compiled gritty half-centuries to lead England to 179 for four on a rain-disrupted first day of the opening Test against South Africa at Kingsmead in Durban, on Saturday.
Pant is also the first Asian wicket-keeper to take five catches in an innings on Test debut.
South Africa's batting coach Dale Benkenstein credited AB de Villiers for changing the momentum as South Africa put up 286, after tottering at 12 for 3, on the opening day of the first Test against India, in Cape Town, on Friday.
Vijay in 11th spot; Kohli falls five places
Rohit Sharma is likely to miss his third game in a row when Mumbai Indians take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday with both teams aiming to secure their spot in the IPL play-offs.
South Africa need to put aside the fallout from their decision to overlook AB de Villiers and their injury issues when they face the West Indies in the Cricket World Cup on Monday, said key bowler Kagiso Rabada.
The 35-year-old paceman has been closing on Pollock's tally of 421 wickets for a couple of years but, limited by injury to three Tests since November 2016, has managed only to reach, not pass, the milestone.
Led by aggressive Australian opener David Warner, Sunrisers would be relying mostly on foreigners to deliver the goods, given the scarcity of local stars in their ranks.
The IPL starts on September 19 and, in all likelihood, all the English and Australian players will land in the UAE via a charter flight on September 17, making them available for their respective team's opening match.
Kohli's India are ranked second in the world and will be firm favourites as they begin their quest for a third World Cup triumph against South Africa
The finishing schools aim to train students from the tier-II and tier-III institutions who aspire for IT jobs and don't get it.
South Africa slid to 105 for six on the third day of the second and final test against New Zealand on Monday but were still firmly in command at Centurion, holding a 372-run lead. After bowling the Kiwis out for 214, the hosts did not enforce the follow-on as the pitch is getting more and more difficult for the batsmen. New Zealand's bowlers took six wickets in the last session of the day with only stand-in opener Quinton de Kock (50) offering any resistance as Stephen Cook, Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, captain Faf du Plessis and Stiaan van Zyl went cheaply.
Rajneesh Gupta highlights important numbers featuring the South African team from the World Cups.
Faf du Plessis said, "Now we can trust the system a little bit more and just focus on playing cricket."
The Virat Kohli-led RCB has won five of its eight games on the back of all-round performances but seemingly blundered in the eight-wicket defeat to laggards KXIP on Thursday.
He is on an 18-match unbeaten streak as India's Test captain, but Virat Kohli was left out of the ICC Test Team of the Year.
South Africa may have emerged as winners but it was Afghanistan, who won hearts, courtesy of their brave performance with the bat, in the ICC World T20 match, in Mumbai, on Sunday
He is the only Indian to make the list that includes three South Africans including record-breaking captain AB de Villiers. Check out the team...
Mumbai get the money-spinning tournament rolling in Chennai on Friday, just four months after claiming their second successive title, with a match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, led by India captain Virat Kohli.
India fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat claimed a Rs 11.5 crore deal with the usually thrifty Rajasthan Royals even as South African pace ace Dale Steyn went unsold on the second day of the Indian Premier players' auction in Bengaluru, on Sunday.
South Africa have named six uncapped players in their 17-man squad for the first two Tests of the four-match series against England as new coach Mark Boucher seeks to revive the fortunes of the ailing side. Batsmen Pieter Malan and Rassie van der Dussen, fast bowlers Dane Paterson and Beuran Hendricks, all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius and wicketkeeper Rudi Second will all hope to make their debuts in the first Test starting in Pretoria on December 26.
India might have begun their World Cup campaign with a morale-boosting win over Pakistan but Jonty Rhodes feels that South Africa are a better all-round side and tipped them to win their high-profile clash against the defending champions in Melbourne on Sunday.
The world's numero uno fast bowler, Dale Steyn feels always looking up to spinners for wickets is not the right way to go about encouraging the crop of pacers in India.
The 13th edition of the IPL will have added significance as 2020 is also a T20 World Cup year.
All cricketing activity has come to a halt due to the health crisis and there are serious doubts over the future of T20 World Cup. However, the International Cricket Council is yet to take the final call on the T20 showpiece event.
South Africa built a sizeable second-innings lead after reaching 65 for two against India at the close on day two of the opening Test at Newlands on Saturday but were sweating over another potential injury blow for experienced seamer Dale Steyn.
The margin of victory was big enough to be called dominant but South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said he was quite nervous about defending 208 against India in the opening Test.
