JP Duminy struck a fluent 92 after being elevated to number three in the batting order in South Africa's 73-run victory over a Sri Lankan Cricket Board President's XI in Colombo on Wednesday.
South Africa exceeded expectations by scoring 431 in their first innings. At stumps on Day 4, they were 11 for one, needing another 384 runs for an improbably victory.
Cricket Australia has bolstered its campaign to host a day-night Test against South Africa later this year by publishing an interview with captain Steve Smith in which he backed the proposed fixture.
Anderson becomes number-one ranked Test bowler
South Africa's injury list continues to grow as wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock has been ruled out of the remaining four ODIs and the ensuing T20Is series against India.
India face a South Africa in their final World Twenty20 warm-up game in Mumbai, on Saturday.
Rain played spoilsport yet again as Day 3 of the second and final Test between India and South Africa in Bangalore, on Monday, was also washed out.
Veteran South African cricketer Hashim Amla has reportedly become the third player from the country to be named his country's 'Cricketer of the Year' on two occasions, when he received the award for 2012/2013 season at a gala Cricket South Africa (CSA) banquet.
With strong hosts expected to challenge, a highly-fancied South Africa face their demons.
England expressed concern over the strength of the bio-secure environment after the positive result, while a South African team investigation has not yet shown how the unnamed player caught the virus.
A patient half-century by opening batsman Hashim Amla guided South Africa to a consolation 8-wicket victory over struggling Sri Lanka in the Group A encounter at New Delhi on Monday. Chasing a modest target of 121 runs, Amla scored 56 runs off 52 balls to help his team chase down the target with 14 balls remaining. Skipper Faf du Plessis also scored 32 runs off 36 balls, while AB de Villiers hit a brisk 20 off 12 balls.
Virat Kohli will be facing the toughest battle of his nascent ODI captaincy career when defending champions India take on South Africa in a do-or-die match of the ICC Champions Trophy, in London, on Sunday.
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.
The Indian team management was miffed with the Wankhede track prepared by the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) ground staff for the deciding fifth and final ODI against South Africa which the hosts lost by 214 runs to clinch the series 3-2, in Mumbai, on Sunday.
Captain Graeme Smith hit an unbeaten double century as South Africa went on a merciless scoring spree to establish a 361-run lead over Pakistan on the second day of the second Test in Dubai on Thursday. Smith was 227 not out and a cramping AB de Villiers scored an unbeaten 157 as the pair set a new South African fifth-wicket partnership record of 326 to put the top-ranked team firmly in command.
World champions India have consolidated their top rank on the ICC ODI Team Rankings after sweeping the series against Sri Lanka, which concluded in Ranchi on Sunday.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list IPL 2020's 50 Most Valuable Players up to Game 46.
England opener Alex Hales fell one short of a second one-day International century as his team completed a comfortable five- wicket victory over South Africa on Saturday. The hosts won the toss in the second game of the series and posted 262 for seven in their 50 overs on a slow wicket that produced nothing like the run-fest of Bloemfontein three days earlier. Hales took England close to their target with a patient 99 from 124 balls as they reached 263 for five from 46.2 overs. - Scorecard The touring side now lead the five-match series 2-0 with the third game in Pretoria on Tuesday. AB de Villiers returned to form as he top-scored for South Africa's with 73 from 91 balls, supported by Faf du Plessis (46) and JP Duminy (47).
Having made it to the final of the World Cup, New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum says his team is confident of winning the Cup.
Mitchell Johnson took his match haul to 10 after claiming three South Africa wickets on Saturday as Australia reduced the hosts, facing a 482-run target for victory, to 132 for five in the first Test.
The visitors required a single wicket to secure success after South Africa resumed on 293 for nine, chasing an improbable victory target of 417.
IMAGES from the 4th ODI played between India and South Africa at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Saturday
India needs to get the team composition right in the third and final Twenty20 International to prevent South Africa from recording a clean sweep, in Kolkata, on Thursday.
Kumar Sangakkara blasted a career-best 169 to help Sri Lanka crush South Africa by a huge margin of 180 runs in the first One-Day International, in Colombo, on Saturday.
In terms of days, Dale Steyn has spent 2,320 days at the top of the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, the most by any bowler since World War II.
Tillakaratne Dilshan hit an unbeaten 74 off 51 deliveries to take Sri Lanka to a six-wicket consolation win in the third and final Twenty20 match over South Africa which has secured the series 2-1.
Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara eye top 10 places while Ravindra Jadeja jumps to career-best third position among Test all-rounders.
In the ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, Australia's Ryan Harris has moved up two places to second following his six wickets against India in the fourth Test at MCG.
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin surged to the top of the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers after a superb outing in the first Test against the West Indies in Antigua which the visiting side won by an innings and 92 runs.
An explosive unbeaten 85 from David Miller and some hostile bowling by the fast bowlers helped South Africa to beat Sri Lanka by 56 runs in Pallekele on Friday and stay alive in the five-match series.
South African skipper Faf du Plessis ratcheted up the rhetoric on the eve of the much-anticipated opening Test against India, saying they have a 'score to settle' with the World No 1.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list IPL 2020's 50 Most Valuable Players up to Game 34.
Having made an impression with his efforts in the drawn warm-up match between Indian Board President's XI and South Africans, Mumbai medium pacer Shardul Thakur said he is confident of taking wickets anywhere except on rank turners.
South Africa's Temba Bavuma was left stranded on 95 not out as they tightened their grip over scandal-hit Australia after reducing the hapless visitors to 110 for six at the close on the second day of the fourth and final Test on Saturday.
An unbeaten century from opener Martin Guptill eased New Zealand to an emphatic eight-wicket victory over South Africa in the second One-Day International at Senwes Park on Sunday.
Dale Steyn claimed six for 100 to bowl out India for 334 in their first innings. In reply, South Africa got off to a positive start, scoring 82 for no loss, at stumps on the rain-hit second day in Durban, on Friday.
South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis described Kagiso Rabada's performance as "phenomenal" after the young paceman helped turn a parlous situation on day two of the first Test against Australia into a thumping 177-run victory on Monday. The tourists had done well to get to 242 all out after being 5-81 on day one but were looking down the barrel of a heavy defeat when Australia raced to 158 without loss on day two. Matters got worse when, having finally broken the opening partnership, South Africa's pace spearhead Dale Steyn was forced off the field with a shoulder fracture that ruled him out of the series.
The number one ODI status will be on the line when second-placed India and table-toppers South Africa clash in a six-match series, starting in Durban on Thursday.
Vernon Philander is enjoying being "mentor" in the twilight of his career and wants more of his contemporaries to give back to the game instead of looking for "greener pastures".
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list IPL 2021's 50 Most Valuable Players up to Game 11.
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