Aaron Finch smashed a sparkling century as Australia dealt England a 111-run humiliation in their World Cup opener at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday.
Chennai Super Kings stormed into their second Champions League T20 final with a crushing 65-run victory over Kings XI Punjab in Hyderabad on Thursday.
A resurgent England attack tore through Australia's batting lineup with six wickets in the final session to leave the hosts reeling at 164 for nine at the close of the second day of the fourth Ashes Test on Friday.
A supremely confident Delhi Daredevils return to their den and have a struggling and injury-ravaged Rising Pune Supergiants in their firing line up next in the Indian Premier League, in New Delhi, on Thursday.
Batsmen Usman Khawaja, Adam Voges and Joe Burns have been rewarded for their strong form over the past 12 months by being awarded central contracts by Cricket Australia on Friday.
Left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc will return from a broken foot during Australia's limited-overs triangular series in the West Indies in June.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Sunday
Australia captain Michael Clarke will miss rest of the One-day international series against South Africa with a hamstring injury, the country's cricket board (CA) said on Saturday.
Their pride bruised following disastrous campaigns, Kings XI Punjab and Rising Pune Supergiants will look for a graceful exit from the ninth edition of the IPL when they square off against each other for one last time in Visakhapatnam on Saturday. Supergiants are coming into the contest after a victory over Delhi Daredevils at the same venue, their home ground, while Punjab have lost their last two outings -- against RCB and table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad. Punjab's fourth and last win this season had come at this very ground, when they had got the better of Mumbai Indians.
A disciplined England attack shrugged off the challenge of a bland Adelaide Oval wicket to limit Australia to 273-5 and leave the second Ashes Test delicately poised after the opening day on Thursday.
The Indian men's hockey team suffered a 2-3 defeat at the hands of New Zealand in a hard-fought encounter of the Four-Nations Invitational Tournament here on Saturday. India knew that they would have to do most of the attacking in the opening periods of the game. The first quarter followed that pattern, India dominating the possession statistics, and creating several circle penetrations but unable to offer clear opportunities on goal.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
South Africa paceman Morne Morkel thrived on a fast WACA pitch to capture five wickets but the tourists made hard work of a three-wicket victory over Australia in the second one-day international in Perth on Sunday.
Paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile took four wickets to fire Australia to a 32-run victory over South Africa in the first one-day international in Perth on Friday.
A quick look at the winners.
As the countdown to 2018 starts, it's time to rewind those moments in sport that stood out this year.
A struggling Kings XI Punjab will have to pull out all stops against in-form and unbeaten, Rajasthan Royals, when the two teams clash in an Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
It will be a battle of survival for the two national captains as Virat Kohli's struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore square off against a fledgling Pune Supergiants led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni in an IPL encounter for the bottom-rung teams in Bengaluru on Saturday. With five defeats in seven games, RCB are currently placed at a lowly seventh spot in the table with four points while Pune are just a notch above in sixth spot courtesy their third win against Delhi Daredevils, on Thursday. It has been a tough journey for the two superstars of Indian cricket as their franchises have dished one disappointing performance after another. RCB with perhaps the most intimidating batting line-ups has had to taste defeat because of a pedestrian bowling attack that has failed to defend 180 plus scores in most of the matches.
Virat Kohli and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are India's highest-ranked batsman and bowler in third and 13th positions respectively.
Eoin Morgan and David Willey shone as England held their nerve to beat Australia by three wickets in a tense fourth one-day international at Headingley on Friday and level the series at 2-2.
Under-17 WC final preview
Images from the fourth One-Day International between Australia and India in Canberra, on Wednesday.
Raja Sen gives us a hint: It was all because he used a coin wisely.
Rohit Sharma's brilliant hundred was certainly one of the positives in India's five wicket defeat in the first ODI against Australia but one of the worrying factor according to the in-form opener is not picking up wickets in the middle overs. India had Australia down at 21 for two but George Bailey and Steve Smith added 242 runs for the third wicket en route a comfortable win for the hosts. "There were a lot of positives to be taken from that game especially scoring 300 runs in Perth. "Losing is not a positive but we did whatever we could. And also the fact that Australia batted very well," Rohit said ahead of the second ODI at Gabba on Friday.
India will need to win at least a game in the upcoming one-dayer series against Australia to retain their current second position in the ICC ODI Team Championships, even as second-placed Virat Kohli looks to close in on AB de Villiers in the batting chart. World champions Australia go head to head with former winner India in a five-match series in Perth on Tuesday. Australia (127) lead second-ranked India (114) by 13 points and even if they lose all the five matches of the series, they will drop points but still finish a point ahead of India.
In a three part series, Rajneesh Gupta highlights all the important numbers from cricket World Cups held between 1975 to 2015.
Top India batsman Virat Kohli has maintained his second position in the latest ICC batsmen rankings while medium pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has moved up a place to be seventh in the bowlers' standings.
With the year sprinting to a close, we bring you, in pictures, some of the best action from the sports world.
The Welsh, who reached the Euro 2016 semi-finals, finished runners-up on 14 points from eight games, three behind Croatia who sealed their berth on Saturday with a 3-1 win over Slovakia.
Rohit Sharma's second successive century was once again overshadowed by Australia's collective batting might as the hosts continued their dominance over Indian bowlers to notch up a seven-wicket victory in the second One-Day International in Brisbane.
A stoppage-time goal from Martin de Roon earned Middlesbrough an unlikely 1-1 draw at Premier League leaders Manchester City on Saturday.
There are several books that Aakar Patel wishes were being written but aren't. Fortunately, there's plenty coming up this year that he's eagerly awaiting.
Glenn Maxwell blasted a splendid 83-ball 96 to lift Australia to a three-wicket victory against India that also helped the hosts seal the five-match ODI series 3-0, in Melbourne, on Sunday.
Michael Clarke still has fitness tests to pass to meet his deadline to be ready for the second group match against Bangladesh.
Barring any further setbacks, it appears that Michael Clarke's return to full fitness and the captaincy of the Australia World Cup team is now a matter of "when" rather than "if".
Donald Trump's new CIA pick hasn't been greeted with the avalanche of media gush that inevitably follows a woman who becomes the first among her gender to get a top job.
Images from the EPL matches played on Saturday
A quick look at the Oscar 2016 nominations.
So 52 games have already been played in the Indian Premier League this season. Here are the Most Valuable players and some random observations by Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle.
Australia dropped batsman George Bailey from the squad for their three-Test tour of South Africa on Monday and brought uncapped Alex Doolan and Shaun Marsh into the 15-man party. Bailey made his debut in the first Test of the recently-concluded Ashes series, but scored only 183 runs at an average of 26 as an unchanged Australia romped to a 5-0 sweep of England.