New Zealand's shock abandonment of their Pakistan tour last month created bad blood between the sides but captain Kane Williamson expects "right spirit" to prevail when the teams clash in Tuesday's Twenty20 World Cup contest in Sharjah.
Pakistan batting consultant Matthew Hayden on Thursday said that the T20 World Cup clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan will be a 'dogfight', and one team would not run away with the game.
The crowd may not be on their side but Cape Cobras' pace bowler Vernon Philander is not losing his sleep over that and feels home support would not make much of a difference when they take on Chennai Super Kings in a Champions League Twenty20 match, in Chennai, on Wednesday.
Images from Sunday, Day 4 of the second Test between India and South Africa, in Pune.
South Africa pacer Vernon Philander continued to move upward in the ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers after inspiring his side to an innings and 81 runs victory over Sri Lanka in the first Test at the Centurion.
It was the fourth straight win in as many Tests in the World Test Championship for Virat Kohli's men, who also won 2-0 in West Indies, and India have now won 11 consecutive Test series at home.
South African player Vernon Philander has reportedly taken the No.1 spot on the ICC player rankings for Test all-rounders, replacing India's R Ashwin.
Former captain and Cricket South Africa Director of Cricket Graeme Smith will take the knee along with players and staff in support of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement during the 3TC Solidarity Cup at the Centurion. Smith said he backed national team pacer Ngidi Lungi on the BLM movement which gathered momentum following the death of African-American George Floyd.
The letter was also signed by five current coaches including national fielding coach Justin Ontong, ESPNCricinfo had reported.
Swing bowler Vernon Philander sent a strong message to the South African one-day international selectors about his prowess in the 50-over game with a superb performance as the Proteas defeated Pakistan by four wickets in the final match of the series in Centurion on Saturday.
Karnataka State Cricket Association XI suffered their second successive defeat, losing to South Africa, in the Twenty20 Emerging Players' Tournament at Caloundra, Australia.
South Africa took full advantage of an abject England batting display on Monday to complete an easy 340-run win in the second Test to level the series 1-1 with two games left to play.
The match was reduced to 31 overs a side following a near five-hour delay in start due to rain.
'As Test team, we stand in a good position. Whole credit goes to Virat'
Kings XI Punjab would aim to keep the winning run going when they take on South Africa's Cape Cobras in a Group B encounter of the Champions League in Mohali on Sunday.
Dale Steyn grabbed five wickets to lead South Africa to a convincing 204 run-victory over New Zealand in the second test at Centurion on Tuesday that sealed a 1-0 win in the series. Set an unlikely target of 400 to win the match, New Zealand were bowled out for 195 with a day to spare as South Africa kept in tact their record of never losing a series against the Kiwis.
Vernon Philander claimed four wickets in a 42-run victory over Ireland in a rain-curtailed ODI.
Opener Reeza Hendricks, wicketkeeper Dane Vilas, spinner Aaron Phangiso and fast bowler Kagiso Rabada, who have all previously represented the country in the limited overs formats, picked for Bangladesh Tests
'We want to give Rohit Sharma an opportunity to open the innings in Tests'
This is the second time Quinton de Kock has won the Cricketer of the Year in CSA's virtual awards
South Africa have named teenage speedster Kagiso Rabada in a 14-man squad for their three-match home Test series against West Indies, Cricket South Africa announced on Tuesday.
'We have the likes of (captain) Dean Elgar and Temba Bavuma, who have the ability to dig in and score big runs and I also like the way that Rassie (van der Dussen) has come in and grown in that team.'
South Africa paceman Morne Morkel thrived on a fast WACA pitch to capture five wickets but the tourists made hard work of a three-wicket victory over Australia in the second one-day international in Perth on Sunday.
The pacer injures ankle during warm-up session; Kyle Abbott has been called up as replacement
Alastair Cook marked The Oval's 100th Test match with a familiarly stubborn unbeaten half-century, standing firm as the home side battled to 149 for four against South Africa at tea on an absorbing first day of the third Test on Thursday.
Maharaj said his lower-order colleague Vernon Philander (44 not out) kept him in good frame of mind.
Not just the 40 points, India will also be eyeing a 3-0 whitewash in the Gandhi-Mandela series.
Mayank Agarwal showed insatiable appetite for runs, converting his maiden Test hundred into a brilliant double before the Indian spinners tightened the noose around the exhausted South Africans on the second day of the first Test.
Rohit Sharma made a dream start as a Test opener with an unbeaten century to put India in control on the rain-hit opening day of the first Test against South Africa.
'We often in England, talk about express pace, but that's not what I'm seeing. It's relentlessness with the ball. It's (Glenn) McGrath-like that you do for a long period of time. It's not bowling bad balls and releasing the pressure.'
Pakistan captain Babar Azam is confident that his side will defeat arch-rivals India in its opening clash of the T20 World Cup as it is more familiar with the conditions, having played mostly in the UAE for the past three to four years.
South Africa will need to knock off just 41 runs on Sunday to beat Pakistan in the second Test and take a winning 2-0 lead in the three-test series despite Pakistan providing gallant resistance on the third day at Newlands.
In the ICC Test ranking for batsmen, Virat Kohli was in the second position, while Cheteshwar Pujara was placed sixth.
South Africa captain Faf du Plessis will miss the first Test against England at Lords starting on Thursday due to family reasons, the cricket board confirmed.
South African strike bowler Dale Steyn could miss next week's third Test against England as he has yet to recover from a shoulder problem while fellow paceman Vernon Philander has been ruled out of the series, Cricket South Africa said.
Images from Day 2 of the first Test between Australia and South Africa in Perth, on Friday.
Philander's partnership with Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel has earned the trio the label as the most-balanced and penetrating attack in world cricket.
South Africa captain Faf du Plessis walked for the toss along with Temba Bavuma as the proxy captain, who was given the responsibility of calling the toss.
Ravi Shastri and bowling coach Bharat Arun had a close look at the pitch which wore a dry look, indicating that it would have something for the spinners.
'They need to be pro-active and take the pacers' challenge head on'
