Nothing but a win will keep their play-off hopes alive as defending champions Mumbai Indians take on Gujarat Lions in a do-or-die battle, which will be their final IPL league match in Kanpur on Saturday. With seven wins in 13 matches, Mumbai are currently placed fifth, tied on 14 points with Royal Challengers Bangalore (3rd) and Kolkata Knight Riders (4th) -- both having better net run-rate with one match to go. A loss on Saturday will knock them out of the race for play-offs and Mumbai will hope to pull the rug from under the feet of the Lions this time after suffering a defeat during their home leg on April 16.
How do the Aussie and Indian cricketers compare? Rajneesh Gupta presents all the career numbers.
Rilee Rossouw smashed a sparkling 78 off 50 balls to drive a youthful South Africa side to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Australia at the Adelaide Oval on Wednesday in the first of three Twenty20 internationals.
Punjab are lying at the bottom of the table with only one win from six matches, while the in-form Lions are the top of the IPL standings with six wins from seven matches.
Here are different scenarios depending on how the series pans out
Khawaja said that he and Finch compliment each other really well and they share a good rapport.
'I didn't like losing to India in the amazing series, no one likes losing. I'm absolutely committed, I love my job, I love the Australian cricket team, I love the players and I love Australian cricket.'
Mayank Agarwal is likely to open with Shikhar Dhawan in Rohit's absence in the ODI series beginning on Friday.
Having gone down swinging in an enthralling Adelaide Test, Australia barely have time to pick themselves up off the canvas before another potentially bruising contest against a confident India in Perth.
Speaking about the injured Mohsin Khan, coach Andy Flower said he had written Khan off from the Lucknow Super Giants' playing XI for the season.
South Africa opener Quinton de Kock hit a masterful 178 runs in a comfortable six-wicket victory over top-ranked Australia on Friday in the first one-day international of the five-match series. After Australia posted 294 for nine in their innings, South Africa reached their victory target with more than 13 overs remaining.
Virat Kohli stepped down as India's 20-overs skipper and lost ODI captaincy too with Rohit Sharma taking over as their sole white-ball leader.
Stopping a resurgent Australia would not be easy but a confident India would look to end the series on a high when they compete in the fifth and final ODI match, in Nagpur, on Sunday.
James Faulkner was the pick of Australia's fast bowlers. He took three wickets as the hosts cruised to a comfortable victory over South Africa at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday to level the three-match Twenty20 series.
The Suresh Raina-led side suffered consecutive defeats against two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders and title holder Sunrisers Hyderabad in their opening two matches.
With 10 points, KKR, however, are on the brink of elimination.
India's Under-19 star Rishabh Pant struck a brilliant half-century to power Delhi Daredevils to a comprehensive eight-wicket victory over Gujarat Lions at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot, on Tuesday.
Janneman Malan, who was out to the first ball of the match on debut on Saturday, anchored the South African reply, taming his usual swashbuckling style to score 129 not out from 139 balls and lead the home side to victory with nine balls to spare.
India captain Virat Kohli on Wednesday said the consolation win over Australia in the third and final ODI is a timely 'boost' for the remainder of the tour, made possible by the freshness that came with a changed squad.
Heinrich Klaasen smashed an unbeaten century as South Africa claimed a 74-run victory over Australia in their first one-dayer played on a slow Boland Park wicket on Saturday. After winning the toss, South Africa overcame an early wobble to post 291 for seven in their 50 overs, a total boosted by the maiden ODI ton from middle-order batsman Klaasen, who crashed 123 from 114 balls. Australia were up with the run-rate for much of their reply, but South Africa then strangled the scoring with intelligent use of the slow pitch as the visitors slumped to 217 all out from 45.1 overs.
A win over Australia would see the Black Caps through and represent a strong recovery from their six wicket loss to Pakistan at Edgbaston on Wednesday.
England captain Eoin Morgan refused to hit the panic button after defeat by Australia on Tuesday left his team's hopes of reaching the Cricket World Cup semi-finals in the balance. The pre-tournament favourites and hosts have now lost three group games and may need to beat India and New Zealand in their next two matches to make the last four.
Australia have their own speedsters in Mitchell Starc, who is level with Archer with 15 wickets, and Pat Cummins (11).
Delhi Capitals will look to put the 'no-ball' controversy behind and gain much needed momentum against another side seeking course correction, the Kolkata Knight Riders, in the Indian Premier League.
The West Indies used plenty of short-pitched deliveries to dismantle Pakistan in their Cricket World Cup opener, but the Caribbean batsmen will get a taste of their own medicine when they face champions Australia, fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile has said.
Buoyed by their thrilling last-ball win against Delhi Daredevils, a confident Rajasthan Royals will take on a beleaguered Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League cricket encounter in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
Australian batsmen David Warner and Steve Smith were booed and heckled by the crowd in their warm-up game against England in Southampton on Saturday.
Australia thrashed England by eight wickets in their fifth and final one-day international at Old Trafford on Sunday to win the series 3-2 and take some consolation for the pain of Ashes defeat.
Warner and Smith have received a hostile reception in England ever since their return from the ball-tampering scandal.
While the return of pace spearhead Anrich Nortje, who had been nursing an injury, bolstered the bowling unit, the South African, who hasn't bowled since the T20 World Cup in November, looked understandably rusty.
Recently, India coach Ravi Shastri had indicated that Virat Kohli could bat at No. 4 in the World Cup
Australia coach Justin Langer lamented a lack of world-class batsmen in his side's line-up and pointed out that Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara have been the difference for the visitors in the ongoing four-match Test series.
Chief selector MSK Prasad told reporters last month that most of the players in the current India side pick themselves and it was a matter of finalising a couple of slots before the World Cup in England and Wales.
Having struggled in the past one year after suspensions of Steve Smith and David Warner, Australia finally seemed to have picked their pieces and playing exactly like a five-time champions ought to.
Images from Thursday's World Cup match between Australia and the West Indies, at Nottingham.
An unsafe outfield forced the abandonment of the second one-day international between New Zealand and Australia without a ball being bowled on Thursday.
Kolkata Knight Riders will have their task cut out as they take on a determined Royal Challengers Bangalore in their IPL 2022 league match on Wednesday.
India showed commendable character in Rajkot to level the series, proving that the panic buttons were pressed prematurely following the 10-wicket loss in Mumbai.
The World Twenty20 Championships to be held next month in India are nothing but a "waste of time", feels former Australian pacer Ryan Harris. A day after Australia were whitewashed 3-0 by India in a T20 series, Harris said there is no point in having a Twenty20 World Cup when the sides involved do not play too many of such games on a regular basis. "Personally I think it's a waste of time having a Twenty20 World Cup," Harris, who retired from the game last year, told 'SEN Radio'. "Last year we played one T20 (against England in August). This year because there's a World Cup I think we play six - there's three more in South Africa before they get over there (to India).
The in-form Steve Smith is looking 'pretty scary' for the opposition teams, gushed Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell after his team-mate hammered his second successive century against India, in Sydney, on Sunday.
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