South Africa, fired by a devastating spell of bowling from Dale Steyn and sustained by the batting of Hashim Amla, took a firm grip on the third and final Test against Australia on Saturday to end day two with an imposing lead of 292.
Ganguly, Ponting among commentators for Champions Trophy.
Skipper Kane Williamson and fellow opener Martin Guptill forged the highest partnership in Twenty20 Internationals to secure New Zealand a series-levelling 10-wicket victory against Pakistan in the second match in Hamilton on Sunday.
He is regarded as one of the best fast bowlers of the modern era. Extreme pace with the ability to swing the ball both ways makes Dale Steyn a complete pacer. The South African speedster reflects on his 11-year old career at the international stage. How did the dream of playing cricket begin for you and when did it start taking shape? I was about 10 or so when I first came in contact with cricket. I was visiting my family in Zimbabwe and played the game in the backyard. And I remember when I got back to school after the vacations in January, everyone seemed to be playing this crazy sport called cricket. I joined the party and since then there has been no looking back. Why fast bowling? I did everything when I was growing up. I was an opening batter in primary school, but fast bowling was one thing that I was always better at than anybody else. I started playing Men's club cricket at a very young age. I was like this little 14-year old playing against full grown men who were 25 years and upwards. You know, you start to get this confidence that you can get grown men out. Your own teammates fill you up with a lot of confidence when they see you get a great batsman out. I was lucky enough to be a part of the Northern Titan Cricket Academy. This was the same time when the 2003 World Cup was on and I got a chance to bowl to all the international pros who came for practice, made them jump around a little bit and built confidence from there.
South Africa's limited over skipper Quinton de Kock didn't want Test captaincy as "extra pressure" of leading the team in traditional format would have been "too much stress". The 27-year-old had replaced Faf du Plessis as ODI skipper in January this year with South Africa's director of cricket Graeme Smith announcing in April that De Kock would not be elevated to Test captaincy.
Captain Hashim Amla emerged from a year of poor form with a dogged century to lead a South Africa fight back in the second Test against England on Monday.
England captain Alastair Cook is still hurting after the Test series defeat by Pakistan but believes his side are equipped to strike back against the world's number one team in South Africa. As he prepared to fly out with his team to South Africa on Thursday, Cook, who has never won a Test series against the Proteas, described just how important a victory will be."It would mean a huge amount to beat the world number one nation in their backyard," the 30-year-old, leading the current fifth-ranked Test nation, told a news conference. "That's the challenge we've got ahead of us.
Former India captain Rahul Dravid believes that India's batting is heavily reliant on Virat Kohli in the middle overs.
The Pakistan-born bowler made an instant impact on his return to the South Africa line-up and his team mates made sure his hard work did not go to waste as they finished the day on 128 for three wickets, a 29-run first innings lead.
Kevin Pietersen is not the only one trying to work out why he is unwanted by England's cricket selectors.
Set a stiff target of 458 for victory, the hosts rode on centuries from Faf du Plessis (134) and AB de Villiers (103) but failed to pull off a sensational victory, falling short by a narrow margin of eight runs.
The paceman had injury problems in the recent ICC Champions Trophy in England, forcing him to miss the semi-final defeat by the hosts, and that has weighed heavily on the minds of the selectors with Test series coming up against Pakistan, India and Australia.
Rajasthan Royals outplayed Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets in their Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad, thereby registering their fifth straight win of the season.
Come February, the longstanding rivalry between Virender Sehwag and Shoaib Akhtar will be renewed but this time it will play out on an ice field rather than on a cricket ground.
The cricketing fraternity took to Twitter to react to the roller coaster finale following an eventful IPL season which produced some unprecedented moments on the field.
Rajneesh Gupta highlights all the important numbers from cricket World Cups held between 1975 to 2015.
AB de Villiers, called time on his illustrious international career, claiming to be 'out of gas' after 14 years in the top league.
Virender Sehwag has announced his international retirement. The batsman made the announcement in Dubai on Monday, ahead of joining the Masters Champions League.
All-rounders Ryan McLaren and Wayne Parnell were named in South Africa's 15-man squad on Wednesday for the three-match Test series against Australia starting on February 12.
'Experience is the key. There are basically two ways to read leg-break bowling. Either you pick up from the wrists or wait for the ball to pitch. No two batsmen would employ the same technique'
South African pacer Vernon Philander feels losing pacer Morne Morkel to injury has compounded matters for his team in the opening Test against India.
After South Africa were penalised five runs for ball tampering against Pakistan in the second Test in Dubai on Friday, AB de Villiers insisted the Proteas were not cheats.
India captain Virat Kohli chalked up his seventh double hundred in Tests before his pacers claimed a few early wickets to leave South Africa reeling, on Day 2, of the second Test against South Africa at Pune.
South Africa were left to rue the loss of cheap wickets after battling to 214 for five on the opening day of the second Test against Australia on Thursday.
Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni are among five leading contenders vying for the title of 'Greatest ODI cricketer' of all-time. Australia's Adam Gilchrist, Pakistan's Wasim Akram and West Indies great Viv Richards are the other three nominees, as per an exercise conducted by ESPNcricinfo's magazine Cricket Monthly.
Equality and inclusion group Kick It Out are reportedly planning to offer education workshops in Newcastle to supporters to explain how impersonating Arabs could be considered be racist or culturally insensitive.
The 63-run win at the Wanderers ensured that South Africa cannot move ahead of India in the ICC Test Team Rankings at the 3 April cut-off date, even if they go on to win all four Tests against Australia in March.
AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis struck sublime centuries as South Africa chased down a massive score to beat Australia by seven wickets in the second One-Day International of the triangular series on Wednesday.
'I was not sure whether such a big player would come to my house but he was quite happy to visit my place... which was just unbelievable!'
From the English media to social networking websites, 'devastated' Kevin Pietersen found support from all quarters.
The International Cricket Council's response to the Australian ball tampering incident in the third test at Newlands is firmly under the spotlight with strong punishment expected for the culprits, South Africa coach Ottis Gibson said on Sunday.
Hashim Amla notched his 20th Test century but three wickets for 34-year-old debutant Zulfiqar Babar allowed Pakistan to restrict South Africa to 245 for eight on the opening day of the first Test in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
For the first time in a decade, South Africa have been forced to acknowledge they are on the decline following back-to-back series losses to India and England that have knocked them off the top of the Test rankings.
Australia has a lot of great cricketers and it is time to replace under-fire batting coach Graeme Hick with one of them, said spin legend Shane Warne.
In Australia, Warner said cricketers do not have many options apart from training in their home states as of now.
Statistical highlights on the fifth and final day of the opening Test match between India and Sri Lanka, in Kolkata, on Monday.
AB de Villiers won as many as five awards, including the South African Cricketer of the Year for a second consecutive time, at a gala function, hosted by Cricket South Africa (CSA), in Johannesburg on Wednesday night. Besides being voted Cricketer of the Year for the second successive season, the South African batting great bagged four more accolades out of nine major awards.
David Warner took over from Mitchell Johnson as South Africa's tormentor-in-chief as the Australian opener blitzed a quickfire century to extend his team's huge lead on the third day of the first Test on Friday.
The overhaul of South Africa's coaching structure has given the team a major boost as they get ready to take on England in a four-Test series which begins on Thursday, captain Faf du Plessis said. Meanwhile, veteran pacer James Anderson will be back on the frontline for England, for what will be his 150th Test.
Fitness clouds and selection dilemmas could hamper South Africa's chances ahead of next month's series against Australia.
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