South Africa routed Australia for 85 and then weathered a batting crisis of their own before pushing to a lead of 86 runs after a bowler-dominated opening day of the second Test in Hobart on Saturday.
Kagiso Rabada claimed five wickets as South Africa crushed Australia by a huge margin of 177 runs, to win the first Test against Australia, on Day 5 in Perth, on Monday.
Morkel removed Zimbabwe's most experienced batsman Hamilton Masakadza with the first ball of their innings and Chamu Chibhabha and Brendan Taylor were also dismissed as the visitors made a tentative start under lights.
Du Plessis had a tough time in 2015, scoring just 60 runs in seven innings.
Rohit Sharma's hopes of a Test comeback took a slight jolt as he was dismissed for a duck on the third and final day of the warm-up match between Board President's XI and South Africa.
Left-arm spinner Axar Patel scalped four wickets without conceding a single run as India 'A' clinched the unofficial Test series against South Africa 'A' 1-0 after an imposing innings and 81 runs victory in the second and final match in Wayanad, Kerala, on Friday.
Abhinav Mukund and skipper Ambati Rayudu struck half-centuries as India A gained a slight edge, reaching 342 for six against South Africa A, thereby taking a 82-run lead at stumps on the second day of the second and final unofficial 'Test'.
A venomous spell of fast bowling from Stuart Broad led England to an emphatic seven- wicket win over South Africa in the third on Saturday to clinch the series. Broad's brilliant return of 6-17 on a lively wicket skittled the Proteas for 83 in their second innings on the third day. England reached their modest victory-target of 74 with relative ease as captain Alastair Cook (43) top-scored in guiding them to 77 for three from 22,4 overs under gloomy skies. The tourists now have an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series, with the final game to be played in Pretoria. South Africa bowled out England for 323 in the morning session for a slender first-innings deficit of 10 runs, but were no match for the bounce and movement of a rampant Broad as they crumbled to their second lowest score since returning to international cricket in 1991.
South Africa need seven wickets on the last day to secure victory in the first Test and go ahead in the two-match series as Bangladesh struggled on a rain-curtailed fourth day at Senwes Park on Sunday.
Virat Kohli's men ticked almost all the boxes during their 203-run win in the opening encounter in Visakhapatnam and they would like to maintain the same intensity in their bid to seal the series in Pune itself.
AB de Villiers has been ruled out of South Africa's two-test home series against New Zealand this month with an injured elbow and Faf du Plessis will take over the captaincy.
AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn make their long-awaited return to the South Africa Test squad for the day-night four-day Test match against Zimbabwe to be played at St. George's Park, Port Elizabeth, from December 26 to 29.
Images from Day 3 of the first Test between Australia and South Africa in Perth on Saturday.
The Proteas skipper felt that the manner in which Rohit Sharma batted in the second innings for his knock of 127, really made the chase difficult for his side.
Dean Elgar scored an unbeaten century but an excellent spell of bowling from Australia seamer Pat Cummins restricted South Africa to 266 for eight at the close of play on the opening day of the third Test at Newlands on Thursday.
The 34-year-old Steyn, currently on a short-term contract with Hampshire having been plagued by injury over the last two-and-a-half years, is three wickets short of a milestone that has frustratingly eluded him in recent times.
Umesh Yadav has expressed his surprise at the ultra-defensive strategy employed by the South African batsmen in the fourth and final Test but reminded them that one cannot last an entire fifth day by "just blocking" deliveries.
Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada, who took three wickets to take apart the Australian top order, has put South Africa in the driver's seat at the end of Day Four of the first Test here at the WACA on Sunday. - Scrorecard: The Proteas closed in on a first Test victory by reducing Australia to 169 for four, still 369 runs behind, at the end of the fourth day. Rabada, who took the price scalps of Shaun Marsh (15), Steven Smith (34) and Adam Voges (1), ensured that his side did not take their foot off the Aussie throats.
Two wickets from successive balls in Ben Stokes's third over removed Quinton de Kock (5) and Faf du Plessis (0) and ended faint South Africa hopes of mounting a rearguard action in pursuit of their nominal target of 492.
Sri Lanka off-spinner Dilruwan Perera took six wickets in the second innings for a match-haul of 10, as the hosts registered a thumping 278-run win over South Africa inside three days of the opening Test on Saturday.
Uncapped spinners Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi were named in South Africa's squad for next month's three-match test series in Australia on Monday as the Proteas seek to exploit a perceived weaknesses in their hosts' batting. Faf du Plessis will again captain the team in the absence of injured AB de Villiers after leading the side in the two-test series against New Zealand last month, which they won 1-0. "Basically, we are following a horses for courses policy as we feel that spinners who turn the ball away from the right-hander are going to be particularly useful under Australian conditions and against the test batsmen we are likely to face," selector Linda Zondi said in a statement.
South Africa have promised a ruthless approach as they seek to inflict an historic series sweep when they host India for the third and final Test at The Wanderers in Johannesburg on Wednesday, says captain Faf du Plessis.
Opener Mayank Agarwal stamped his authority on a struggling South African attack with a second successive hundred as India gained the upperhand on the opening day of the second Test.
JP Duminy and Stephen Cook scored half centuries but four wickets for Suranga Lakmal and two for Rangana Herath restricted South Africa to 267 for six on the opening day of the first Test against Sri Lanka on Monday. Duminy made 63 and Cook 59 as South Africa threatened to dominate on a dry track at St George's Park but wickets at key moments kept Sri Lanka firmly in the game.
Earlier, South Africa England swung the bat to declare on 313-8 at tea on the fourth day, a taking huge lead of 491 runs.
Faced with the prospect of a humiliating 0-3 series whitewash, a desperate India would be aiming to bounce back to winning ways against an unrelenting South Africa in the third and final Test, starting in Johannesburg, on Wednesday.
IMAGES from Day 3 of the 3rd Test played between South Africa and Australia in Cape Town on Saturday
The 21-year-old left-hander has gained 21 slots and reached 17th place, the joint-highest by a specialist India wicketkeeper along with Farokh Engineer, who did so in January 1973.
Faf du Plessis scored his fourth test century but rain ruined the morning session as South Africa went to lunch on 289 for three on day two of the second Test against West Indies at St George's Park on Saturday.
Opener Stephen Cook scored a career-high century to help South Africa build a massive 432-run lead over Sri Lanka despite rain delays on the third day of the first Test at St George's Park in Port Elizabeth.
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.
Vernon Philander took five wickets as South Africa closed in on victory having reduced West Indies to 76 for two in their follow-on innings at the close of play on day three of the opening Test on Friday.
Virat Kohli and Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara held on to their second and seventh position respectively
IMAGES from Day 4 of the fourth Test between South Africa and Australia in Johannesburg on Monday
The fourth Test will not just be about how the Australian team perform, but how their behaviour is viewed by the watching world as they look to put the recent scandal behind them.
South Africa lost four wickets in the final session of a fluctuating first day of the second Test against England at Trent Bridge on Friday but finished with a defiant flourish to end on 309 for six.
South Africa were 224 for six at the close of play in a chilly Dunedin with a lead of 191 runs entering the final day on a pitch that is turning but offering little assistance for the pace bowlers and is proving difficult to score from.
Rajneesh Gupta throws up all the numbers of how both teams have fared in Twenty20 Internationals.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock is in a race against time to be fit for the World Cup.
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.
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