India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara jumped a couple of rungs to second, while skipper Virat Kohli held on to the fifth spot in the latest ICC rankings for Test batsmen.
Steve Smith reached his maiden Test century with a six as Australia, trailing 3-0 in the series, took control of the fifth and final Ashes Test against England at the Oval on Thursday.
Australia ripped out England's top order to take a vice-like grip on the second Ashes Test after completely dominating the second day at Lord's on Friday.
'This was not the cleanest game of cricket you've ever seen -- there were too many flubs and fumbles for that. But it was certainly the semi-final this mostly blah tournament has needed -- two tough, well-rounded teams, toe to toe, slugging it out, bleeding and drawing blood until there was only one left standing.'
New Zealand will have their tails up and eye another upset when they resume the trans-Tasman rivalry with a strong Australian side.
For the Indian team, the Trent Bridge Test will be their last chance to save the series after being outplayed in the first two Test matches -- by 31 runs Edgbaston and then by an innings and 159 runs at the Lord's.
A selection of musings from around the cricket World Cup.
Ross Taylor scored his 10th Test century and surpassed 4,000 career runs to anchor New Zealand's 307 for six at the close of play on the first day of the second Test against the West Indies at the Basin Reserve on Wednesday.
Yorgos Lanthimos's royal drama has 12 nominations!
Kane Williamson hit a fourth Test hundred to put New Zealand on top on the first day of their opening Test against Bangladesh on Wednesday. The visitors, who chose to bat after winning the toss, reached 280 for five at stumps with the last two wickets falling in the last two overs of the day on a slow and low surface in Chittagong.
A selection of musings from around the cricket World Cup.
Factbox on the fifth Ashes Test match between Australia and England, which starts on Thursday:
The Emmy nominations for 2018.
Aggressive off-spin bowling from Graeme Swann and indifferent Australian batting allowed England to seize control of the second Ashes Test at Lord's on Friday.
England were scenting victory after claiming three late wickets to reduce Australia to 174 for six on a fluctuating fourth day of the first Ashes Test at Trent Bridge on Saturday.
Rediff.com's Manu Shankar spoke with former Essex player and fast bowling coach Ian Pont to assess England's disastrous start in the ICC's 50-over-a-side extravaganza.
A dominant Australia looked firmly on course for a 5-0 Ashes series sweep when they reached 140 for four, a lead of 311, at close of play after skittling England for 155 on the second day of the fifth Test on Saturday.
Wes Morgan's 90th-minute header earned 10-man Leicester City a 2-1 victory over relegation-threatened Burnley at Turf Moor in the Premier League on Saturday.
New Zealand's pace attack ripped through India's top order to reduce the tourists to 45 for three at tea on the second day of the first Test at Eden Park in Auckland, on Friday after Brendon McCullum's 224 propelled them to an impressive first innings total of 503.
New Zealand opener Martin Guptill sent the ball soaring and the records tumbling by striking a World Cup record of 237.
With New Zealand at the cusp of World Cup glory, former captain Martin Crowe said the Black Caps will have to dig deep into their resources if they have to beat Australia in the title clash between the trans-Tasman rivals.
Michael Clarke's touring side will attempt to win the urn on English soil for the first time in 14 years and Alastair Cook's hosts will try to win back the trophy following their crushing 5-0 defeat in the last series Down Under.
Steve Smith scored a sparkling century and put on 128 for the sixth wicket with Brad Haddin to rescue Australia and push the hosts to 326 all out shortly before close of play on the first day of the fifth Ashes Test against England on Friday.
All-rounder Jimmy Neesham and batsman Tom Latham have been named in New Zealand's team for the second Test against India after Jesse Ryder and Doug Bracewell were dropped for a late night drinking session in Auckland last week.
Neeraj Chopra, on Saturday, became the first Indian javelin thrower to claim a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, with a season's best effort of 86.47m in the final, in Gold Coast.
Third seed Rafael Nadal battled through mid-match cramps for more than an hour before he lurched into the third round of the Australian Open with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-7(2), 6-3, 7-5 victory over American qualifier Tim Smyzcek.
Andrew Strauss has said English cricket could be damaged by the "madness" surrounding the publication of Kevin Pietersen's autobiography.
Factbox on major ball-tampering incidents in international cricket in the wake of South Africa being penalised five runs during the second test against Pakistan in Dubai on Friday for attempting to alter the state of the ball:
The award function was held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
A fired-up Mitchell Johnson dismissed England captain Alastair Cook cheaply in a hammer blow for the tourists after Australia declared for a mammoth first innings of 570 to be firmly in control after day two of the second Ashes Test on Friday.
Australia bundled out England for a paltry 103 in their second innings to win the second Test match at Lord's on Sunday by a massive margin of 405 runs on the fourth day.
England are out of the 2015 ODI World Cup. Bangladesh delivered the knock-out blow, after they lost to Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.
With a new cricket director, coach and chairman, England return to the field of play in the first Test against New Zealand on Thursday following an extraordinary period of upheaval.
A dominant Australia were five wickets away from reclaiming the Ashes after hammering England with the bat and reducing them to 251 for five with the ball at the end of the fourth day of the third test at the WACA on Monday.
Australia railed at suggestions their team resembled a 'Dad's Army' but the evidence supplied by the first four Ashes Tests against England suggests it was not an unfair moniker.
IMAGES from Day 7 at Wimbledon on Monday
Rain forced the first Test between New Zealand and West Indies to be abandoned as a draw after tea on the fifth and final day at University Oval in Dunedin on Saturday.
Ishant Sharma exploited the seaming conditions brilliantly to return a career-best 6 for 51 as India took early control of the second and final Test by bowling out New Zealand for a paltry 192 in the first innings in Wellington on Friday. Opener Shikhar Dhawan then hit an unbeaten half-century as India reached 100 for 2 at close, still trailing by 92 runs at the Basin Reserve.
Factbox on the cricket World Cup semi-final between New Zealand and South Africa at Eden Park, Auckland.
India go into the quarter-final against their neighbours as favourites, but will certainly not take them too lightly, not wanting to suffer the same fate as they did in the 2007 edition.
