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.
Dhananjaya de Silva enhanced his rapidly-growing reputation with an unbeaten 43 as he kept South Africa's strike bowlers at bay to see Sri Lanka to 181 for seven in their first innings at the end of the second day of the first Test on Tuesday. The 25-year-old, who hit a six with his first scoring shot when he made his Test debut against Australia in July, brought Sri Lanka within 105 runs of South Africa's first innings total of 286 before bad light stopped play for the day.
Here's a glimpse of all that happened around the world last month, in 14 images.
Australia ripped through South Africa's top order in the first hour, dismissed the tourists for 242 by tea and reached 105 without loss at close on the back of some Dave Warner fireworks on the opening day of the first Test on Thursday.
On a pitch offering extensive lateral movement, a target of 175 could prove to be a match-winning one for India.
Skipper Virat Kohli's weakness outside the off-stump was again exposed as India plunged into deep trouble at 28 for three, after their bowlers dismissed South Africa for a modest 286, on the opening day of the first Test in Cape Town on Friday.
South Africa's bowlers needed a little more than an hour of the final day's play to dismiss Sri Lanka for 281 in their second innings and claim a 206-run victory in the first Test in Port Elizabeth on Friday.
Rohit Sharma continued his sensational run as the Test opener with his third hundred of the series, allowing India to regain control of the proceedings after a top-order collapse on Day 1 of the third and final Test against South Africa.
A 7-year-old girl who miraculously survived a deadly plane crash in the state of Kentucky in USA and walked barefoot nearly two kilometres through a forest in biting cold to find help has been praised for her extraordinary courage.
A spectacular collapse has raised the prospect of a nervous finale for a brittle West Indies after they finished on 275 for nine on day four of the second Test against South Africa on Monday.
India might have wasted the advantage of winning the toss after being bundled out for a paltry 201 against South Africa, on Thursday, but batting coach Sanjay Bangar feels the hosts' first innings total is 'much bigger' than it looks on a slow and low pitch.
Post tea, play was possible for 20 minutes before a thunderstorm washed away nearly an hour.
Dale Steyn produced a ferocious spell of fast bowling to inspire South Africa to a crushing 231-run victory over Australia in fading light on day four of the second Test on Sunday.
JP Duminy, AB de Villiers, Wayne Parnell and Vernon Philander put South Africa on top as they reduced Australia to 112 for four on the second day of the second Test at St George's Park on Friday.
India's batting woes in South Africa continued as the visitors folded up for 187 on Day 1.
England debutant Toby Roland-Jones wreaked havoc as he picked four wickets to have South Africa reeling at 126 for 8 at stumps on Day 2 of the third Test at the Oval on Friday.
South Africa removed the West Indian openers in Sunday's last session at Newlands to build on AB de Villiers' superb century and take the initiative in the final Test.
Part-time spinner Dean Elgar ripped through India's batting line-up with four wickets as South Africa made the hosts rue their decision to bat first on the opening day of the first Test in Mohali, on Thursday.
'It's Test cricket and (Shannon) is an emotional guy trying to do everything he can to win a Test match. Sometimes people say things on the field that they might regret'
'By transferring the case to the NIA without the Maharashtra government's consent clearly indicates they want to play mischief.'
Vernon Philander's brilliant all-round show played a major role in South Africa's recovery against India on the second day of the first Test.
Cheteshwar Pujara was the highest-ranked Indian batsman despite dropping a rung to eighth while R Ashwin held on to his eighth position in the bowlers' chart of the ICC Test rankings.
India's Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin thrived on a spinners' paradise in Mohali, bamboozling South Africa's batsmen in the first Test to secure a 108-run victory with more than two days to spare on Saturday.
Cheteshwar Pujara's unbeaten 63 gave India a firm hold on the opening Test against South Africa after off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin picked up his 13th five-wicket haul to restrict the touring side to 184 on the second day on Friday.
Ashwin moves into top-10, Dhawan in career-high 32nd spot in the latest ICC Test rankings
South Africa took 16 Sri Lanka wickets in a little over two sessions to secure a ruthless victory by an innings and 118 runs in the third and final Test at the Wanderers on Saturday.
'In what must go down as one of the most nonchalant remarks by the head of any hospital, J J Hospital Dean Dr Ranjit Mankeshwar said: 'We do not know where the staff was, but he did not suffer serious wounds'.'
Kagiso Rabada said South Africa are gunning for a whitewash of India, having trampled the visitors in the first two matches.
Saker took the unusual step of publicly criticising his bowlers in the fourth and final Test against India in Sydney last month, revealing discord with staff over tactics.
All-rounder Andre Russell smashed a match-winning half-century as West Indies claimed a nail-biting one-wicket victory over South Africa in the fourth one-day international at St George's Park on Sunday.
In the ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, Australia's Ryan Harris has moved up two places to second following his six wickets against India in the fourth Test at MCG.
Former South African fast bowler Fanie De Villiers has praised Mohammed Shami as India's best Test bowler and added that the Proteas could easily fit him in their highly-competitive pace attack.
As Cheteshwar Pujara plays a landmark Test against Sri Lanka, Rajneesh Gupta salutes the batsman's career thus far in numbers...
Set a stiff target of 458 for victory, the hosts rode on centuries from Faf du Plessis (134) and AB de Villiers (103) but failed to pull off a sensational victory, falling short by a narrow margin of eight runs.
South Africa will have to dig deep if they are to avoid defeat in the first Test after being reduced to 72 for four wickets in their second innings, still trailing Pakistan by 121 runs, in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
'They have realised that class war is not possible in India, so they are trying to bring about a caste war.'
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji are back with Rediff.com's World Cup Most Valuable Players ratings.
'This was not the cleanest game of cricket you've ever seen -- there were too many flubs and fumbles for that. But it was certainly the semi-final this mostly blah tournament has needed -- two tough, well-rounded teams, toe to toe, slugging it out, bleeding and drawing blood until there was only one left standing.'
