Defending champions India had a full-fledged practice session at the ICC Academy in Dubai on Friday as they put the finishing touches to their Asia Cup preparations.
South Africa's Faf du Plessis smashed a career-best 185 off 141 balls as the hosts beat Sri Lanka by 40 runs after surviving a fierce onslaught in a high-scoring fourth one-day international to take a 4-0 series lead on Tuesday.
The Men in Blue won the first T20I at Johannesburg by 28 runs and a victory on Wednesday will see them wrap up another series win on this tour.
South Africa's dramatic 231-run victory over Australia in the second Test set up an enticing decider at Newlands which could see the hosts seal a first home series win over the tourists in 44 years.
The margin of victory was big enough to be called dominant but South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said he was quite nervous about defending 208 against India in the opening Test.
World Cup holders India and South Africa will clash in the opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy, 50-over contest, at Cardiff in Wales on June 6, 2013, tournament hosts the England and Wales Cricket Board announced on Tuesday.
It may be recalled that India had played a Test each against England and Australia at Mumbai in December last year, winning them by 347 runs and eight wickets respectively.
Outwitted in both the T20 and the ODI series, India will seek redemption in the Test format by trying to spin a web around the formidable South Africans in the four-match series starting in Mohali, on Thursday.
Dale Steyn is set to play his first Twenty20 International since March 2019
Scotland, veterans of six previous T20 World Cup editions, were the big losers, failing to secure their spot for the 20-team tournament, losing to Jersey who chased down 134 in a last-ball victory. But Scotland also needed Italy to win.
IMAGES from Day 4 of the 3rd Test played between South Africa and Australia in Cape Town on Sunday
Favourites India maintained their unbeaten run in the tournament and eked out a fighting 2-1 win over a spirited South Africa in their final Pool D match to book a place in the quarterfinals of the men's Junior Hockey World Cup at the Major Dhyan Astroturf stadium in New Delhi on Monday. India scored both their goals from field efforts through skipper Harjeet Singh (11th minute) and Mandeep Singh (55th), while Kyle Lion-Cachet (28th) found the net for the Africans. India, thus, finished the pool engagements with possible nine points from three wins and will now face second placed team in Pool C, Spain in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Promising that India will not back down from their "aggressive brand of cricket", team director Ravi Shastri feels consistency and patience would be key to success as the hosts gear up to face South Africa next month.
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.
The final Test begins on Friday in New Delhi, and the Shubman Gill-led side is expected to maintain their winning combination as they look to wrap up the home series.
Darren Bravo scored an enterprising century as West Indies rallied from a poor start to reach the final of the triangular one-day international series with a commanding 100-run victory over South Africa in Barbados on Friday.
GMR's team will be based in Johannesburg with young Protea paceman Kagiso Rabada as its marquee player while Khan's outfit will be based in Cape Town with left-handed batsman JP Duminy as the marquee player.
India's marquee women's ODI World Cup match against Pakistan will be held at the neutral venue of R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on October 5, the ICC announced on Monday.
In the other match of the day, Dan Lawrence and Jack Burnham hit centuries as title contender England crushed Fiji by a massive margin of 299 runs.
South Africa coach Russell Domingo says the Proteas will rely on their pace battery to rattle India's formidable batting in the upcoming series, which kicks-off with a Twenty20 warm-up match against an India 'A' team in Delhi on Tuesday.
Hardik Pandya stood tall amid ruins with his all-round prowess but hosts South Africa were still very much in command with a current lead of 142 runs against India after an enthralling second day in the first Test in Cape Town
Trisha Chetty spent a productive day on either side of the stumps as South Africa kicked off their women's Twenty20 World Cup campaign with a comfortable six-wicket victory over hosts Sri Lanka in a Group B match on Wednesday.
Opener Shikhar Dhawan was back amongst the runs with a brisk 52 off 43 balls but it wasn't enough to get India 'A' over the line against South Africa 'A' in a rain-hit unofficial fourth ODI.
Many months into his retirement from T20I and Test format, the 38-year-old right-hander on Tuesday said he is getting used to sitting at home and watching the action unfold on television instead of being part of it.
Being told not to return home as "losers" by their country's sports minister merely reflects the passionate desire of all South Africans for a maiden World Cup triumph, captain AB de Villiers said on Saturday.
Indian women's cricket team would look to extend its domination in the shortest format and achieve a rare double series win
Former South African batter AB de Villiers hoped that Team India seamer Jasprit Bumrah will carry his red-ball form into the upcoming Asia Cup in the UAE, but felt the pace spearhead might not feature in all games in the continental tournment.
Australia captain Tim Paine hailed his side's effort and fight as they rose from the malaise of their ball-tampering scandal to find a competitive edge on the third day of the fourth Test against South Africa at the Wanderers.
Putting up an abject batting display, India 'A' lost the first unofficial 'Test' against South Africa 'A' by 235 runs to trail the two-match series 0-1.
The BRICS nations have expressed concern over the proliferation of trade-restrictive actions in the form of 'indiscriminate rising' of tariffs, particularly measures used as a means of 'coercion', cautioning that such practices risk marginalising the Global South countries.
David Miller and Faf du Plessis scored sparkling centuries in a partnership of 252 runs as South Africa beat Australia by 40 runs in a one-day international, in Hobart, on Sunday, to win the three-match series 2-1.
Herschelle Gibbs hit a sparkling century and Dale Steyn took four wickets to lift South Africa to a series-clinching 61-run win over Australia in the fourth one-dayer on Monday.
Both Australia and South Africa, says former Australia captain Mark Taylor, have a lot of firepower in their bowling department. Besides, the two sides also have a lot of depth in their batting.
The two remaining India-South Africa ODIs in Lucknow and Kolkata were on Friday called off owing to the coronavirus pandemic after the visiting players "expressed unwillingness" to continue in view of the rising positive cases in the host country. The game in Lucknow was scheduled to be held on Sunday, while the Kolkata ODI was meant to be on March 18.
India's women's team will hope to produce a strong all-round effort against a tricky Sri Lanka and win the ODI tri-series final in Colombo on Sunday.
Cricketer Rinku Singh's wedding with Samajwadi Party MP Priya Saroj, initially scheduled for November 19, has now been postponed, according to a report.
India will have a final opportunity to check their game in pressure situation when they face Bangladesh in Navi Mumbai on Sunday in what would be a dress rehearsal ahead of the marquee Women's World Cup semifinals against Australia next Wednesday.
Defending champions South Africa crashed out of the ICC U19 World Cup after suffering a shock two-wicket loss against qualifier Namibia in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh on Sunday.
Punjab batsman Gurkeerat Singh Mann, a surprise inclusion as the 17th member of the squad for the Bangalore Test, retained his place for the next two matches as well.
Despite introducing a single ticket format to make purchases more accessible, organisers haven't seen a significant boost in sales, with the numbers remaining sluggish ahead of the match.
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