Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma said one doesn't get to see matches as tantalisingly close often after his team beat Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL match in Chennai on Tuesday.
South Africa will head to India armed with three frontline slow bowlers in their Test squad after recalling leg-spinner Imran Tahir and off-break bowler Dane Piedt for the four-match series starting in November.
With final figures of 3-19 including a maiden wicket, Avesh had the all-important scalp of in-form Andre Russell.
Opener Fakhar Zaman smashed his second century in as many matches as Pakistan beat a much-changed South Africa by 28 runs in the third and final One-Day International, in Pretoria on Wednesday, to clinch the series 2-1.
South Africa were 24 for no loss when the heavens opened up first, and soon after play resumed following the brief interruption, de Kock carted Richard Ngarava for four boundaries, including three on the trot.
A battle royale is in the offing as heavyweights Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals clash in a high-profile IPL encounter, in Chennai, on Tuesday.
LSG do not have to fret so much about the mathematical scenarios as a win would be enough for them to seal their back-to-back playoff berth.
Getting the combination right would be topmost on Sunrisers Hyderabad's to-do list when they take on a qualitatively superior Mumbai Indians in an IPL encounter in Chennai on Saturday, trying to arrest an early slide after back-to-back defeats.
Pat Cummins's gutsy half-century and Captain Eoin Morgan's cautious 39 runs helped Kolkata Knight Riders post 148 after an awful start.
Though Mankad walked away with the man of the match award, there was no denying that Pandya and Pooran's roles were decisive in the final outcome.
South Africa beat Pakistan by 28 runs after Quinton de Kock scored his maiden one-day international hundred and Dale Steyn posted his best ever match figures in the fourth game of the series in the United Arab Emirates on Friday.
Rohit Sharma is likely to miss his third game in a row when Mumbai Indians take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday with both teams aiming to secure their spot in the IPL play-offs.
Faf du Plessis showed why he continues to be among the top-rated batters in T20 cricket at the D Y Patil stadium on Tuesday night.
In cricket, we have something that we can share with our families, neighbours and indeed, the whole country. It is colour-blind, language-neutral, truly secular and transcends all regions, from Kashmir to Kerala and Mizoram to Maharashtra, explains Shreekant Sambrani.
Table-toppers Mumbai Indians are on course to make it to the play-offs but the game is crucial for Rajasthan, who are languishing in seventh place. Defeat would mean a step closer to elimination.
Images from Friday's IPL match between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, in Sharjah.
Bumrah said the team is still trying to be positive as they 'haven't lost everything in life'.
Deepak Chahar's unavailability due to an ankle injury will complicate selection matters with India looking for a much-improved bowling performance in the must-win second ODI against South Africa, in Ranchi, on Sunday.
In the event of Narine missing out again, Mumbai will fancy their chances even more at the Sheikh Zayed stadium, where skipper Rohit Sharma has scored both his half-centuries this season.
Rajasthan Royals may need to rejig their Indian line-up slightly when they try to pull their IPL campaign out of the current rot against a supremely confident Mumbai Indians,
Rishabh Pant made no bones about the uninspiring performance of the two leading spinners
If it were not for Hooda's and Rahul's fighting 50s, LSG would not have had 169 to defend.
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.
Adaptability will be the key at the World Cup and England captain Eoin Morgan hailed his side's composure after they fought past South Africa on Thursday to open their home tournament in style.
He is on an 18-match unbeaten streak as India's Test captain, but Virat Kohli was left out of the ICC Test Team of the Year.
India's formidably consistent match-winners have a date with history in the New Year when they take on an out-of-sorts South Africa in the second Test in Johannesburg from Monday in pursuit of a coveted first-ever series win in the Rainbow Nation.
There were many memorable performances in the league stages.
The gifted Ruturaj Gaikwad showed his class with a splendid half-century to power Chennai Super Kings to the top of the IPL standings after they beat champions Mumbai Indians by 20 runs, in Dubai, on Sunday.
Jos Buttler is still the front-runner to be this IPL's MVP. He still has at least two matches to play and one big knock will win it for him. Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players after the end of the 70 league matches in IPL 2022.
South Africa's captain in the shortest format Quinton de Kock said AB de Villiers could have come out of international retirement for the T20 World Cup 2020, which has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the win against KXIP, RCB remain at the bottom of the points table and remain to win all their remaining league games to have any hopes of progressing in the tournament.
IMAGES from Day 5 of the 2nd Test played at Newlands in Cape Town on Tuesday.
However, Mumbai will take heart from the fact that they defeated defending champions Chennai Super Kings, their first loss in four games, in the last match.
Images from the IPL match played between Mumbai Indians and RCB in Mumbai on Monday
K L Rahul and Deepak Hooda's half-century steered the Lucknow Giants to a six-run victory against the Delhi Capitals.
Leading players from top countries are clearly already struggling to cope with the demands of international cricket's packed calendar.
England continued to hold the upper hand in the first Test against South Africa by taking a first innings lead of 97 and extending it to 216 by the close on the third day at Lord's on Saturday with nine wickets in hand.
After he whipped off the bails to run out AB de Villiers, Nathan Lyon leapt over him in celebration, dropping the ball on his opponent before joining his team mates in a jig of joy.
Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult stifled the Rajasthan Royals batting line-up in the final overs to play a crucial role in Mumbai Indians' comfortable seven-wicket victory on Thursday.
Ten South Africa 'A' players have been hospitalised due to "food poisoning", including four after playing their tri-series cricket match against India 'A' in Chennai, the visiting team management said.
