Michael Clarke remained unbeaten on 161, one of the more heroic of his 27 Test hundreds, as Australia reached 494 for seven before rain brought an early tea on the second day of the series-deciding third Test against South Africa on Sunday.
Ravichandran Ashwin can play the all-rounder's role in any condition, India skipper Virat Kohli said on Monday, impressed by the premier off-spinner's consistency with both bat and ball in recent years.
Rajneesh Gupta lists all the important numbers from day two of the Oval Test.
The 28-year-old, who has been banned for a year by Cricket Australia and stripped of captaincy, broke down repeatedly in a five-minute press conference after his arrival from South Africa today.
South Africa captain Dean Elgar has opened up about his behind the scene conversation with Kagiso Rabada that fired up the senior pacer to deliver a game-changing spell in the second Test against India.
Australia's ill-tempered tour of South Africa exploded in a ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town two years ago, leading to a review of the team culture among other measures.
South Africa's hopes of victory on day five of the second Test against West Indies were thwarted in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday by heavy overnight rain and a wet outfield which prevented any play.
India's batsmen would have to watch out for variable bounce more than prodigious turn on a Rajkot wicket which was at its best for batting on the first two days, England centurion Moeen Ali said on Thursday. Following Joe Root's century on Wednesday, Moeen and Ben Stokes completed their hundreds on the second day as England piled up 537 runs in their first innings after winning the toss.
The Gold Coast Commonwealth Games have restored Australia's global sporting reputation that had taken a hit during the recent ball-tampering scandal, Games Organising Committee Chairman Peter Beattie said.
South Africa's status as the top-ranked Test-playing nation has been dented after their crushing defeat in India last month and is in danger of being eroded completely by England over the next month or two.
South Africa head coach Ottis Gibson, on Tuesday, hinted that Dale Steyn might have to wait longer to make his comeback as it would be a risk to field the rusty pacer in the first Test against India, beginning, in Cape Town, on Friday.
The 21-year-old left-hander has gained 21 slots and reached 17th place, the joint-highest by a specialist India wicketkeeper along with Farokh Engineer, who did so in January 1973.
Former Australia captain Steve Smith says he cried for four days as he tried to cope with the fallout from the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in March.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami took three wickets each as the tourists bowled South Africa out for 191 to claim an emphatic 113-run victory just after lunch on the fifth day of the first Test in Centurion on Thursday.
The Bollywood actress and businesswoman co-owns the Indian Premier League (IPL) side Kings XI Punjab and has now expanded her cricket empire to include the Stellenbosch Kings in South Africa's newly-launched T20 Global League.
Steve Smith was suspended for a year along with David Warner and Cameron Bancroft after being indicted in the sandpaper-gate during a Test match against South Africa in Cape Town. Smith was also banned from taking any leadership roles for two years - a suspension which has now expired.
'I think it is great opportunity for every single country look into its own backyards and think the way they want to play cricket and for what we stand for, including the Australians. Otherwise this opportunity would go'
In the shadow of the ball-tampering saga that broke out on Saturday and has rocked Australian cricket since, the former cricketer reckons, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft 'will be haunted by it forever'
Darren Lehmann is returning to Big Bash side Brisbane Heat in his first coaching role since resigning as Australia boss in the wake of the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal.
Rain meant there was no play possible on the fourth morning of the second Test between South Africa and West Indies at St George's Park on Monday with the prospect of a draw now ever more likely.
Brendon McCullum - playing his last Test match- produced a sensational display of stroke-play, blasting to the fastest hundred in Test cricket history. McCullum took 54 balls to reach the three-figure mark, two less than the previous record. Viv Richards and Misbah-ul-Haq held the previous record with 56-ball hundreds. In terms of time taken, McCullum's hundred in 78 minutes is the joint fourth fastest in Test cricket. Statistician Rajneesh Gupta glances at the records of the fastest hundreds in Test cricket:
England will rest Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Mark Wood for the three-match one-day international series against South Africa starting in Cape Town on February 4. Worcestershire seamer Pat Brown, Somerset batsman Tom Banton and the Lancashire pair of Matthew Parkinson and Saqib Mahmood received their maiden call-ups.
The ball-tampering issue resurfaced when Cameron Bancroft recently hinted in an interview that the bowlers in the team might have been aware of the plot
'Smith never attempted any such thing when he was captain at Pune last year.' 'You can't try this in a T20 match.'
Darren Lehmann, the Australia coach during the infamous ball-tampering scandal, feels then captain Steve Smith shouldn't have turned a 'blind eye' to the ill-fated plan during the Cape Town Test against South Africa.
Western Australia will be quick to welcome former test batsman Cameron Bancroft back to the fold once his ball-tampering ban expires in December, the state team's coach Adam Voges has said.
It was not long ago that Australia wicketkeeper Tim Paine was considering giving up the game entirely. Now he is set to captain the team as they look to pick up the pieces following the ball-tampering scandal.
After condemning Steve Smith's conduct during the Cape Town Test on Sunday, Shane Warne struck a more supportive tone on Wednesday.
Stokes' father Ged suffered a stroke just days after arriving in the country to follow his son on tour and is still hospitalised.
Smith was banned from leadership roles for two years after the ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town in 2018 but the ban expired in March.
The International Cricket Council's Cricket Committee backed stricter punishments for ball-tampering but decided not to do away with the toss in test cricket during a two-day meeting which concluded in Mumbai on Tuesday.
'The world simply wants to see you cry, once you have cried they will feel satisfied and live happily ever after,' lamented India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin while expressing solidarity with the disgraced Steve Smith and David Warner.
Australia replaced injured batsman Shaun Marsh with Phillip Hughes on Thursday while clearing fit-again paceman Jackson Bird to join the team in South Africa for the three-Test series starting on February 12.
Australia replaced injured batsman Shaun Marsh with Phillip Hughes on Thursday while clearing fit-again paceman Jackson Bird to join the team in South Africa for the three-Test series starting on February 12.
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.
Fast bowler Dale Steyn will undergo rehabilitation on a fractured rib but will be fit for the home series against Australia which begins next month, Cricket South Africa (CSA) said on Tuesday.
Bangar tips Rohit for success at the top in Tests
South African speedster Dale Steyn, who has been marred by a string of injuries (groin and shoulder), will be returning to competitive cricket in a club game in Cape Town. Steyn will play for Western Province Cricket Club against St Augustine in his bid to prove his fitness for next month's three T20s against Australia ahead the much-important World T20 in India. Steyn, who missed out owing to a groin injury during the tour to India injured his shoulder in the first Test against England and has been out of competitive cricket since close to two months. Despite his injury, the 32-year-old was included in the squad South Africa keeping a replacement ready if he failed to make it. Proteas T20 skipper Faf du Plessis said, "Steyn looks fully fit but a call could only be taken on whether he will travel to the tournament if he gets through the matches against Australia."
The 33-year-old has played 118 Tests for England, scoring 7,727 runs and winning five Ashes series since becoming a regular in the side following his debut in 2004, but disappointed in the recently concluded series against Pakistan.
'We got off to a good start and kept (going) on with that adrenaline''
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