South Africa finished their engagements with five points from as many games.
Riding high on their new-found confidence, defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders will be hoping to finally get it right at home and keep their play-off hopes alive when they take on a struggling Rajasthan Royals in their IPL match in Kolkata on Sunday.
The country's woes at World Cups, be it the 50-over or shortest format, are well documented and so the expectations back home have been tempered
Images from the Indian Premier League match between Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore, Dubai, on Friday.
South Africa have often relied on fast bowlers on spicy home wickets to get them to victory, but are also well aware that India have developed an excellent pace attack that has brought them overseas success in the last few years.
Save for Quinton de Kock, who has retired from Test cricket and will play for Lucknow Super Giants, there is no certainty on whether Proteas pace attack of Kagiso Rabada (Punjab Kings), Nortje (DC), Marco Jansen (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Lungi Ngidi (DC) will be available before the Test series against Bangladesh ends.
South Africa's skipper Temba Bavuma was pleased with the way his pacers performed in the demolition of Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup Super 12s match, in Abu Dhabi, on Tuesday.
They can measure the speeds at which bowlers hurl the ball, they can measure the distance when batsmen slam sixes, so we ask why can't they measure the height at which bowlers jump when they take a wicket or as in the instance below to catch a ball off their own bowling?
After the first qualifier ended in Dubai on Sunday, players from the Delhi Capitals and the Chennai Super Kings caught up with their mates from the opposing side.
Having made it to the IPL for the first time ever, Delhi Capitals are up against the rampaging Mumbai Indians, who have already beaten them thrice this season and are looking all set for their fifth IPL title.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler smashed half-centuries to steer Rajasthan Royals to an easy 57-run victory while consigning Delhi Capitals to their third straight loss.
CSK would be hoping to pick up two more points against Delhi Capitals, who have struggled in the tournament for the most part.
South Africa's shock exit at last year's Twenty20 World Cup following a loss to the Netherlands with much the same group of players still weighs heavy on captain Temba Bavuma.
Delhi Capitals will look to do the double when they host Sunrisers Hyderabad in their IPL contest at home on Saturday.
Delhi are enduring a poor start to the season as they have lost all their four games in IPL 2023 so far.
Yuzvendra Chahal led a stunning comeback for Punjab Kings with 4/28 as they defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 16 runs in their low-scoring Indian Premier League thriller on Tuesday.
Australia will be without their premier pacers but their envious pedigree in ICC tournaments make them favourites to progress to the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy from Group B.
Both Gujarat and Delhi Capitals started their campaign in IPL 2022 with wins and they would look to continue in the same vein at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
Sanju Samson will look to continue his domination of the bowlers but India need more stability in the top order
The promotion to No 4 has proved to be a turning point for Riyan Parag.
Thrust into the leadership role, a completely transformed Rishabh Pant carries a lot of hope and responsibility on his shoulders as Delhi Capitals aim to build on the success of the last edition in the UAE, where they finished runners-up to Mumbai Indians.
'It could have been a closer game and we could have got over the line.'
It was the first time in 16 IPL seasons that Delhi has successfully defended a first innings total under 150.
However, South Africa have lot of openers stacked on top (Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen and Reeza Hendricks) with a light middle order which is still a huge concern.
Vaughan unleashed a scathing criticism of the pitch at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, calling it "sub-standard"
Who took the best catch at the Arun Jaitley stadium on Wednesday night?
South Africa have named a largely unchanged One-Day International squad for the three-match home series with Bangladesh on March 18-23, with only all-rounder Sisanda Magala missing out after he failed a fitness test.
The unbeaten Mumbai duo added 185 runs for the fourth wicket to rescue the hosts who looked in dire straits at 39 for three in the morning session after opting to bat in Ranchi.
With DC having lost all five games so far this season, a rejig of the top order against KKR at the Ferozeshah Kotla in a bid to revive their fortunes could be on the cards.
Images from the T20 World Cup Super 12 match between the Netherlands and South Africa, in Adelaide, on Sunday.
Shastri is not in favour of coaches taking breaks.
Injury-hit Sri Lanka and South Africa seek winning start to World Cup
Mark Wood and Alzarri Joseph scarred the likes of Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan in Delhi's line-up in the first two games. Now, when these talented but low on confidence willow wielders face an attack comprising Trent Boult, KM Asif and Jason Holder they will have to negotiate speeds of mid-130 kmph.
As coach Ricky Ponting pointed out, he would expect a better "on his feet" thinking from the young captain.
'Hope he comes back strongly after this break.'
Capitals were the best team in the league and their 20-point finish at the group stage was an indication of their consistent performances which didn't dip due to the COVID-19 forced break. CSK, over the years, have been in final eight times and won on three occasions which speak volumes of the team's ability to lift their game just when it's required most.
Temba Bavuma has recovered from injury and will take charge
'I wish I could reverse-lap Jofra Archer, that's about it. Don't think I am brave enough to play the shots Suryakumar plays. To be honest, I wasn't looking to take Anrich Nortje on, it was a matter of just seizing the opportunity when I had it. Fortunately, there were one-two balls I was able to go after.'
Dhoni has now hit most sixes in the 20th over in IPL history with 64 maximums.
