AB de Villiers smashed a sensational century as South Africa beat England by 112 runs in the third One-day International at Newlands on Friday to level the series at 1-1.
Images from Wednesday's IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore, in Abu Dhabi.
A look at the various batting records in the IPL over the years.
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.
Four among IPL's five best players are coming in relatively 'fresh' and only AB de Villiers among them has had a full cricket season. Lasith Malinga is returning from injury, and Irfan Pathan isn't a regular in India's playing eleven in ODIs and Tests.
West Bengal batsman Manoj Tiwary will replace South Africa's AB de Villiers in Delhi Daredevils squad for the Champions League Twenty20 tournament, from October 8 to 23. De Villiers had reported back pain in the lead-up to the ICC Champions Trophy and was advised to rest for four to six weeks by the Cricket South Africa Medical Committee, according to a statement.
India will need to win at least a game in the upcoming one-dayer series against Australia to retain their current second position in the ICC ODI Team Championships, even as second-placed Virat Kohli looks to close in on AB de Villiers in the batting chart. World champions Australia go head to head with former winner India in a five-match series in Perth on Tuesday. Australia (127) lead second-ranked India (114) by 13 points and even if they lose all the five matches of the series, they will drop points but still finish a point ahead of India.
Left-arm seamer Wayne Parnell claimed a maiden five-for to help South Africa score a comfortable five-wicket victory over New Zealand and revive their campaign in the Champions Trophy at the Centurion on Thursday
Images from Tuesday's IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals, in Bangalore.
Captain AB de Villiers was in tears at the post-match news conference after overseeing another South African defeat on the big stage.
IMAGES from the 4th ODI played between India and South Africa at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Saturday
Bangalore have been on a roll with skipper Virat Kohli enjoying one of the best phases of his career as he has four centuries under his belt.
The paceman had injury problems in the recent ICC Champions Trophy in England, forcing him to miss the semi-final defeat by the hosts, and that has weighed heavily on the minds of the selectors with Test series coming up against Pakistan, India and Australia.
'These are the heroes that are appreciated inside the dressing room for us at Delhi Capitals and Ricky Ponting is very particular about that. When you get appreciated, people want to stick to their roles.' 'Delhi Capitals' bench good enough to be another IPL team.'
"Our team's score of 148 was not sufficient. Because of grass on the pitch we decided to bat first after winning the toss with a hope that the ball will come straight to the bat and we would be able to make a big score," RBC's Stuart Binny, who scored an unbeaten 18, told reporters on Monday.
India's swing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar on Tuesday jumped eight places to a career-best 22 following his impressive show in a lost cause in the first Test against South Africa but Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara slipped in the ICC ranking ladder.
Former captain Sunil Gavaskar has described Ajinkya Rahane, who scored a century in each innings of the fourth Test against South Africa at the Ferozshah Kotla, as the most complete Indian batsman in the current team as he has "done well in all conditions".
Powered by in-form, inspirational leader in Virat Kohli, Royal Challengers Bangalore would look to inch closer to a maiden Indian Premier League title triumph when they take on table-toppers Gujarat Lions in the Qualifier I, in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
Virat Kohli's inspirational leadership for Royal Challengers Bangalore will be up against the brute force with which David Warner has steered Sunrisers Hyderabad when the two teams, eyeing their maiden IPL title, square off in a high-intensity summit clash in Bengaluru on Sunday. RCB, however, will have a slight advantage over Sunrisers as they have the experience of playing in an IPL final twice in the past -- 2009 and 2011, but on both occasions, they had finished runners-up. Sunrisers' best finish was a play-off berth which they managed in their debut season in 2013.
Kolkata Knight Riders will be looking to earn two valuable points and move up to second spot in the points-table when they take on struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore.
AB de Villiers scored an unbeaten 79 as South Africa trounced Scotland by 130 runs in their opening match of the ICC World Twenty20 at the Oval on Sunday. Chasing a huge 212 to win after South Africa amassed 211 for five, Scotland were all out for 81, the seventh lowest in Twenty20 internationals and second worst in the Twenty20 World Cup following Kenya's 73 against New Zealand in Durban two years ago.
'To a person, full member countries and their CEOs stated their absolute support of Test cricket being played under lights'
Images from Monday's IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians, in Dubai.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni nearly pulled off a heist but Parthiv Patel's last ball run out helped Royal Challengers Bangalore edge past Chennai Super Kings by one run off the last ball in a thrilling finish.
KKR will head to the game with the belief that the side can win from any situation, which they have demonstrated time and again.
AB de Villiers' masterly 85 in his 100th test could not gloss over South Africa's spin frailty as India took charge of the second Test after dominating the opening day at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.
'I think it makes total sense in Test cricket'
Royal Challengers Bangalore are definitely feeling "under the pump" after four straight defeats, admitted opener Parthiv Patel, adding they actually do not deserve to be in such an embarrassing situation.
The much-vaunted Indian top order struggled yet again against quality fast bowling as the visitors stared at a series defeat at the close of fourth day in the second cricket Test against South Africa in Pretoria, on Tuesday.
Andrew Flintoff may not have justified his USD 1.55 million price tag but the star England all-rounder, forced out of the Indian Premier League due to injury, was a "good influence" on the Chennai Super Kings, according to coach Stephen Fleming.
Warner leads the run-getters' list and has also notched three consecutive 100-run partnership for the opening wicket with Englishman Jonny Bairstow, who scored a blistering 114 against Bangalore.
Former India captain Rahul Dravid believes that having the liberty to 'practice and experiment' risky shots in addition to the leniency shown by team managements with regards to failures are helping batsmen to improve and flourish in the T20 format. "We are more accepting of failure, I think, in T20 cricket than we are in any other form of the game," Dravid was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. "When a batsman takes risks and plays a paddle sweep or a reverse sweep or all the kinds of shots that they play, you're more likely to view it with a certain degree of acceptance than you would, say, in a Test match or in one-day cricket. This has given batsmen freedom to try and experiment with these things more and they're getting better and better at it."
Herschelle Gibbs hit a sparkling century and Dale Steyn took four wickets to lift South Africa to a series-clinching 61-run win over Australia in the fourth one-dayer on Monday.
Captain Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers smashed brisk half centuries to guide Royal Challengers Bangalore to a well-deserved 13-run victory over Rising Pune Supergiants in the Indian Premier League match, in Pune, on Friday.
South Africa took a 2-1 lead in the five-match series of one-day internationals when they beat Australia by 25 runs on Thursday. Australia, chasing 290 for victory, were restricted to 264 for seven in their 50 overs. Earlier, Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers led South Africa to 289 for six with classy half-centuries.
Riding high after an emphatic victory against Kings XI Punjab, a rejuvenated Delhi Daredevils will aim at posing a serious challenge to a formidable Royal Challengers Bangalore when the two teams square off in an Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar was quick to concede that India's bowling attack gave away 30 runs too many as South Africa amassed 286 in their first innings, after being reduced to 12 for 3 in the first 30 minutes on the opening day of the first Test, in Cape Town, on Friday.
Pushed to the bottom of the heap after three successive losses, it will take an extraordinary effort from Royal Challengers Bangalore to overpower table-toppers Rajasthan Royals when the two sides clash in an Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad on Friday.
CSK, with their experience of winning important moments, will certainly make Capitals wary.
Australia clinched a series win over South Africa and remained top of the world rankings after completing a crushing 175-run victory in the second Test on Tuesday.
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