England proved devastating with both bat and ball on Saturday as they scored 400 runs in their first innings and then reduced sorry South Africa to 88 for six wickets at the close of play on the second day of the fourth Test at The Wanderers. Images from Day 2 of the 4th Test played between South Africa and England in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Captain Joe Root has denied trying to heap the blame on his bowlers for England's poor start to the Ashes series but insists they must be braver with the length of their bowling in the now crucial third Test.
England's predicted line-up for the first Test in Brisbane includes Mark Stoneman, James Vince and Dawid Malan, who will walk out without a Test century to their names.
Joe Root's decision to bat backfired on England, who were bowled out for just 147 on a rain-hit first day.
Pakistan's Yasir Shah claimed five wickets to put the breaks on England's scoring on Day 2 of the 1st Test at Lord's in London on Friday.
Leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal felt that unlike England's innings, when there wasn't much assistance for the slow bowlers, the Lord's track helped home team spinners Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali as India lost the second ODI by a comprehensive margin of 86 runs.
England's Ben Stokes provided a timely reminder of his immense talent with a sparkling innings of 92 which turned the first test against New Zealand on Thursday.
England battled to 96 for four in their second innings by the end of a dramatic fourth day at Lord's to lead Australia by 104 runs and leave the second Ashes Test on a knife-edge.
India pacer Jasprit Bumrah hasn't done any special preparation for the ongoing Test series against England, but admitted that a little bit of mindset adjustments, and staying in the present moment, worked wonders for him after a disappointing World Test Championship final against New Zealand.
England's Jonny Bairstow steered his side to a three-wicket victory over New Zealand in the final game in Durham on Saturday.
A near 50-run haul by India's notoriously brittle batting tail in the first innings of the drawn opening Test against England was like "gold dust", Indian captain Virat Kohli said.
India's bowlers let England off the hook and allowed the visitors to recover from a difficult position and post 199 for 5 by stumps, on the opening day, to leave the crucial fourth and final cricket Test in Nagpur evenly poised, on Thursday.
With its traditionally quick and bouncy wicket playing to the strengths of home pacemen, the WACA has been a house of pain for English cricket and Australians will be hoping for more of the same when the ground hosts its final Test.
England were in a strong position to win the second Test against New Zealand and level their two-match series as they extended their lead to 231 runs when bad light stopped play three overs early on the third day at Hagley Oval on Sunday.
A litany of technical issues have plagued the opening match of cricket's most enduring rivalry.
In all likelihood, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane would get another chance but over the past two years, his inconsistency has hurt this team badly.
After England tore the prediction books for an epochal 28-run victory in Hyderabad in the first Test, India now find themselves in a tight space, mentally and technically, ahead of the second match starting in four days in Visakhapatnam.
IMAGES from the World Cup match between England and Sri Lanka, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, on Thursday.
Usman Khawaja celebrated his recall to the Test arena after two years in the wilderness with a stylish 137 to drive Australia to a declaration on 416 for eight shortly before the close of play on the second day of the fourth Ashes Test on Thursday.
Australia's run-machine Marnus Labuschagne has displaced England captain Joe Root to claim the world's number one Test batter spot following a run of big scores in the ongoing Ashes series.
The No. 4 slot is considered the most vital position for any successful ODI side, yet India are struggling to find a solution to their revolving door conundrum for some time now.
England seamers Sam Curran and David Willey shared nine wickets to set up a crushing eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka on Thursday as the hosts chased down 241 with seven overs to spare to go 2-0 up in the three-match one-day international series.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI for the fourth Test against England?
Jasprit Bumrah will have to squeeze every ounce of energy from his already overworked body, while Ajinkya Rahane will hope to get one final chance to save his international career when India take on England in the fifth and final Test, chasing a historic series win, in Manchester on Friday.
'If we had got a few more runs it might have helped our bowlers out a lot more. At the moment we are probably behind the game but there is plenty of time to fight back with our bowling line-up.'
India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was on Monday nominated for the ICC 'Player of the Month' award for August following his brilliant performances with both the bat and ball in the ongoing Test series against England.
England have included pace bowler Graham Onions in a 13-man squad for the first Ashes Test against Australia starting at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Wednesday.
Former Australia captain Ian Chappell reckons India will start as favourites in the Test series against England owing to a quality pace attack with plenty of depth and a top order that is more consistent than the visitors'.
The batting was a big letdown for the Indians with Virat Kohli, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer failing in both innings, while Shardul Thakur's selection over Ravichandran Ashwin turned out to be a big mistake.
Australia made a stuttering start to coach Justin Langer's tenure as they lost by three wickets to England in the opening match of the one-day series at The Oval.
Nottinghamshire seam bowler Broad was not considered for selection, with his partner expecting their first child towards the end of November.
England, who hold the urn, were dismissed for 233 in their second innings in the opening session of the fifth and final day of the maiden pink ball Ashes Test.
India's batting maestro Virat Kohli held on to the number two position in the latest ICC ODI rankings for batsmen released on Monday, while Rohit Sharma dropped a place to seventh.
New Zealand's stand-in captain Tom Latham was delighted to have found a new hero in ton-up Rachin Ravindra as they began their World Cup campaign, obliterating champions England by 9 wickets in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
England levelled the three-Test series against West Indies after bowling the tourists out for 198 in the second innings to win by 113 runs in the final session of the second Test with Ben Stokes in inspired form at Old Trafford on Monday. England had declared their second innings at 129-3 in the first session in Manchester after sizzling all-rounder Stokes smashed 78 off 57 deliveries, setting West Indies a target of 312 with 85 overs left in the day.
Beleaguered England captain Alastair Cook on Thursday conceded that they may have gone wrong with some of the tactics they employed in what has been a disastrous Test series against India but insisted that there was no lack of effort.
India spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Jayant Yadav claimed three wickets apiece in the second innings to lead the hosts to a comfortable 246-run win in the second Test against England on Monday and a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. - Scorecard: England, chasing an improbable victory target of 405, were all out for 158 shortly after lunch on the fifth and final day in the first Test match being played in the port city of Visakhapatnam.
Bairstow further credited their batting depth to play with freedom at the top.
New Zealand were in trouble at 37 for 3 at stumps in reply to England's declared first innings total of 325 for 9 at Bay Oval, with seven wickets tumbling in a frantic evening session.
England coach Brendon McCullum said his side's aggressive performances in their 3-0 series win over New Zealand set the alarm bells ringing around world cricket and that there would be no change of approach against India in their rearranged Test.
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