Marta became the all-time leading scorer at the women's World Cup on Tuesday as Brazil vaulted to the top of Group E with a 2-0 win over South Korea, while Eugenie Le Sommer's superb long-range strike gave France victory over England.
Battered and bruised after four successive defeats, India will make a last-gasp effort to avoid the embarrassment of being whitewashed by an unrelenting Australia when the two sides clash in the fifth and final One-Day International in Sydney, on Saturday.
India would look to reignite the spark and keep themselves afloat in the ODI cricket tri-series when they take on an unbeaten Australia in Sydney.
Virat Kohli's form may have taken a hit since dropping to number four in the batting order, but West Indian legend Sir Viv Richards feels the marauding cricketer should continue in the position if that is what the Indian team requires.
After being comprehensively thrashed by 79 runs in the opening ODI of the three-match series, India, for the first time, are staring at the ignominy of series defeat against the proverbial minnows of world cricket.
As I was training for the upcoming season, it dawned on me that my shoulder may not last the rigours of bowling nearly eighteen overs a day, and that's when I knew it was time, says Zaheer Khan after his retirement from international cricket.
India have won the Asia Cup six times, Sri Lanka five, and Pakistan have won it just twice. As the 14th edition of Asia's own trophy gets underway on Saturday, Rajneesh Gupta presents the numbers on the 13 editions so far.
'Dhoni's skills are unbelievable and also his mindset, the way he thinks about the game.'
Skipper Virat Kohli smashed a majestic 122 while Kedar Jadhav conjured up a career-best 120 before India's lower middle-order held nerves to pull off an incredible three-wicket victory over England in the first One-day International.
'...then Bangladesh would have been the world champions a long time ago!'
Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq tells Chandresh Narayanan that his team will break the jinx that has haunted them in five of the last six editions when they take on India in their World Cup opener on February 15.
If bowling was the only main worry for Team India heading into the World Cup, then think again! Skipper MS Dhoni, on Saturday, revealed that India team, besides bowling is also struggling in batting.
Their World Cup build-up halted by West Indies team's sudden mid-series pullout, India would resume the preparations for the mega-event when they square off against under-cooked sub-continental rivals Sri Lanka in a hastily-arranged ODI series starting in Cuttack on Sunday.
India's pace spearhead Mohammed Shami feels a certain degree of comfort playing under Mahendra Singh Dhoni. India's captain, he says, is never "demanding" and his backing has made the transformation from domestic to international cricket pretty smooth.
Statistical highlights on associate member countries defeating Test-playing nations at the 50-over World Cup after Ireland beat West Indies by four wickets in the Pool B match at Nelson, New Zealand on Monday.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni expressed confidence that his players are well-equipped to tackle pressure situations, saying they have "calm nerves" and the experience of playing in big matches.
How will young batsmen brought up on T20 learn to build an innings? What about the technique to patiently negotiate hostile seam bowling conditions or the skill to play on difficult dusty turners? What about leaving the swinging ball outside off stump?
With it's scandalous past, still fresh in the minds of fans and critics alike, the Indian Premier League (IPL) organisers will look to ensure that the focus remains firmly on cricket when the cash-rich event gets underway with a glamorous opening ceremony on Tuesday.
Penpix of the New Zealand squad for the cricket World Cup which they will co-host with Australia.
Yuvraj has switched focus to business.
Sachin Tendulkar revealed that a few Indian players were not feeling comfortable under former coach Greg Chappell after the first couple of tours and he was the one who had persuaded his colleagues to be patient with the Australian and give him more time to get settled.
With a strike rate of 115, Shikhar Dhawan is the MVP from the India-West Indies series according to Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji.
Who were the most valuable players in the just-concluded India-Australia ODI series? Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji 's formula provides overwhelming evidence that the bat complete overwhelmed the bat.
'With India's bowling so poor, there will be extra pressure on the batsmen to score more runs. The Indian team, which nonchalantly scores 300/350 runs in ODIs at home, has had problems making even 200/250 runs in Australia.'
The International Cricket Council released the provisional squads of the 12 teams for next year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand on Friday. However, co-hosts Australia and minnows Ireland decided against releasing the provisional list although they submitted 30 names to the parent body within the stipulated deadline.
From Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards, Imran Khan and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, these cricketers, among others, etched their names in the annuls of cricketing history with heroic efforts that helped their teams clinch the big prize of One-day cricket. With the 2015 edition of the cricket World Cup starting on February 14, we bring you a brief history of finals from 1975-2011...
Penpix of the New Zealand squad that will play the cricket World Cup final against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.
The IPL has produced more controversies in its short lifespan than any other sporting league in history.
Yuvraj Singh has emerged as the costliest cricketer in the IPL 8 players' auction, bought for a record Rs 16 crore (USD 2.57 million approx) by Delhi Daredevils.
'This was Kohli's veneration for his master: The man who had inspired him to pick up a cricket bat in the first place, the man he had grown up watching. Just that now, he was exactly like him, or, dare it be suggested, maybe a shade better while chasing down daunting totals,' says Dhruv Munjal.
Sangakkara, Dhoni, McCullum, de Villiers... Cricket has never had so many amazing wicketkeeper-batsmen in the same era...
A B de Villiers still heads Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings for the World Cup.
Prem Panicker, on the Rediff chat, delves on what went wrong for Team India and what to expect from Sunday's trans-Tasman World Cup final.