Former skipper Graeme Smith on Friday dropped in at South Africa's training session, continuing an interesting trend of ex-captains visiting their teams with bagful of wisdom ahead of matches against India.
After being bowled out for a paltry 183 in the first innings losing as many as eight wickets in a single session, No 3 Mendis (110 off 135 balls) and opener Karunaratne (92 batting, 200 balls) added 191 as the visitors could get only two wickets in the next two sessions.
Tim Southee's prophecy before the start of the first Test against Sri Lanka came true on the opening day of the match as he took his eighth five-wicket haul at the Basin Reserve on Saturday.
Images from Day 2 of the second Test between India and Sri Lanka, in Bengaluru, on Sunday.
Virat Kohli would hope for a turnaround when India take on an under-prepared Sri Lanka in the second Test in Bengaluru
South Africa bowled poorly in the first hour, but still managed to reduce the visitors to 54 for three as Sri Lanka gave their wickets away with injudicious stroke-play.
Chasing 215 to win, Bangladesh made a flying start before enduring a mid-innings slump when Mushfiqur took the onus on himself to help Bangladesh post their highest total in the 20-overs format and win by five wickets with two balls to spare.
Captain Eoin Morgan smashed his second half-century in two games and Adil Rashid took four wickets to help England crush Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the rain-marred third One-Day International on Wednesday.
The Sri Lankan cricket team, led by veteran pacer Lasith Malinga, arrived in Guwahati on Thursday for the three-match T20 series against India amid tight security after the city witnessed widespread protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The Sri Lankan team headed straight to the team hotel amid a thick security cover. The members of the Indian team are expected to arrive in batches on Friday for the series opener on Sunday.
Both the teams lost their opening matches but bounced back into reckoning after producing two of the tournament's biggest upsets so far.
Sri Lanka ended the day at the score of 64/3, still trailing the hosts by 127 runs.
De Kock smashed 121 off 108 balls at the top of the innings -- his 14th ODI hundred -- as they went on to make 331-5 off their 50 overs.
At stumps on day four, with an hour's play lost because of the weather, Sri Lanka were 109 for three, requiring a further 296 runs to pull off an epic victory.
New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill says their pace attack have forged a blueprint they will seek to follow for the rest of the World Cup after dismantling the Sri Lankan batting order in Saturday's opening win in Cardiff.
This is his 'Test' and for Kohli, a century to mark a 'century' is something he would be craving
India captain Virat Kohli continued to top the ICC Test batsmen's ranking but his deputy Ajinkya Rahane slipped a place to ninth spot. Kohli has 928 points, 17 more than second-placed Australian run-machine Steve Smith, in the latest edition of the rankings released on Saturday.
Kaif spoke about the hope he has from Shaw, how head coach Rahul Dravid would have a calming influence on the group
At times, Rishabh Pant has confounded the Indian team with his brazen batting style but skipper Rohit Sharma on Monday said they are willing to accept the way he bats for his sheer ability to be a game-changer in matter of minutes.
Pakistan's teenage fast bowler Naseem Shah led the hosts' recovery against Sri Lanka on a riveting opening day as Test cricket returned to the country on Wednesday for the first time since a militant attack in 2009.
Moeen Ali scored a majestic century as England amassed an impressive first-innings total by lunch on Day Two of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Durham.
Skipper Rohit Sharma will be desperate to get back to form as a resurgent India look to set their record straight against hosts Sri Lanka in the third match of the Nidahas Tri-Series, in Colombo, on Monday.
Mathews missed the one-day series in South Africa, the tour of Australia and the home series against Bangladesh with a hamstring injury but is back in action for his Delhi franchise in the ongoing Indian Premier League.
While Sri Lanka will be fancying their chances against a lowly South African side, the Proteas would be more than keen to make a statement against the 1996 winners.
Taskin Ahmed became the fifth Bangladesh bowler to claim a one-day hat-trick before incessant rain washed out the second match of the series against Sri Lanka in Dambulla on Tuesday.
Concerted pressure from New Zealand's bowling attack pushed them to the brink of victory in the second Test against Sri Lanka at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Saturday.
Sri Lanka all-rounder and former skipper Angelo Mathews has been ruled out of the first Test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi next week with a calf injury, but the uncapped Sadeera Samarawickrama, Roshen Silva and Lahiru Gamage are in the squad.
Sri Lanka took three wickets in the last three overs to snatch a thrilling one-run victory over West Indies in the triangular one-day series on Wednesday. Niroshan Dickwella and Kusal Mendis both scored 94 runs as Sri Lanka posted 330 for seven from their 50 overs but for the second game running, West Indies worked themselves into a winning position before falling agonisingly short of their target as they finished on 329 for nine.
Sri Lanka's top-order batsmen put up a solid display and were ably aided by their bowlers to help their side thump England by 219 runs for the touring side's worst one-day international loss by runs.
India captain Virat Kohli said he expected his bowlers to defend 321 but Sri Lanka batted exceptionally well to take the game away from the defending champions in the ICC Champions Trophy in London, on Thursday.
Bangladesh made a perfect start to their World Cup campaign, posting their highest one-day international score of 330-6 during the 21-run win over South Africa.
South Africa opener Quinton de Kock's attacking 87 set up a four-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second one-day international in Dambulla on Wednesday, handing the tourists a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
A 151-run fourth-wicket partnership between Ed Barnard and Ben Duckett powered 1998 champions England to a 213-run victory over hosts United Arab Emirates on the opening day of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in Abu Dhabi on Friday. In other matches of the day, the West Indies let South Africa off the hook as the two-time runners-up recovered to win by 94 runs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, while Sri Lanka scored a comfortable 49-run victory over New Zealand at Sharjah Cricket Stadium and Zimbabwe completed a six-wicket victory over Canada at Abu Dhabi Oval 1.
Keshav Maharaj claimed a career-best eight for 116 to prevent Sri Lanka from making the most of a strong start and limiting them to 277 for nine on the opening day of the second and final Test on Friday.
Sri Lanka's openers shared a fluent century stand to lead their side to 162 for one in reply to England's 416 on the second day of the third and final Test at Lord's on Friday.
Dasun Shanaka is their 10th captain in nearly five years, and barring a classy batsman like Dhananjaya de Silva and a steady pacer in Dishmantha Chameera, this team lacks quality to challenge the might of the Indian team led by Shikhar Dhawan.
India-off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has gained a place to be seventh in the latest International Cricket Council bowlers' rankings in Tests.
Kusal Mendis led a strong Sri Lankan second innings effort but the West Indies still held the advantage at stumps on day four of the first Test at the Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad on Saturday. Set a daunting target of 453 when the hosts declared their second innings at 223 for seven just after lunch, the visitors reached 176 for three by the close with Mendis unbeaten on 94.
Eighteen wickets fell on the second day, the most at this ground since 1914
South Africa remained on course for victory at the close at Kingsmead on Friday.
Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne missed individual centuries but forged Australia's highest partnership of the summer to earn the hosts a handy first innings lead against Sri Lanka on day two of the series opening day-night Test on Friday.
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