Pakistan captain Shan Masood scored 87 as the hosts reached 259 for 5 at the close of play on Day 1 of the second Test against a wasteful South Africa, who were poor in the field but kept in the contest by fine bowling in Rawalpindi on Monday.
Punjab Kings fast bowler Kagiso Rabada etched his name in the IPL record books as he became the fastest to pick 100 wickets in the T20 league in terms of matches played.
Making a comeback to international cricket after a seven-month gap, Virat Kohli has perished for ducks in the first two ODIs against Australia.
Marco Jansen picked 12 wickets in the two Tests at an average of 10.08 including a six-wicket haul in the first innings of the Guwahati Test, while Jasprit Bumrah managed eight wickets in the series.
The Pakistan Cricket Board in a bid to attract more crowds to the Test match have for the first time announced free entry for several enclosures.
'You want to get a game and find pitches where you have enough in it for the bowlers and enough in it for the batters.'
Kagiso Rabada ripped through the West Indies line-up as South Africa clinched an 87-run win over West Indies in the first Test.
Imam was in a hurry to reach his ton and, attacking the bowling, got an inside edge to Senuran Muthusamy's left-arm spin and was snagged at short leg by Tony de Zorzi's sharp catch.
Pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada produced an inspired bowling performance to lead MI Cape Town to their maiden SA20 title with a comfortable 76 runs victory over two-time champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the final at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Pat Cummins tore through South Africa before a Proteas fightback left the ICC World Test Championship Final 2025 on a knife-edge at the end of an absorbing second day at Lord's.
Pakistan moved themselves into a strong position, needing eight wickets to win while South Africa are chasing an imposing target as the first Test headed for an exciting conclusion.
With Bumrah leading the charge, India prised out five wickets in the second session to snuff out South Africa's hopes of reaching the 200 mark.
With the scars of last year's home series whitewash against New Zealand still raw, preparing rank turners may invite risk.
Star batter Virat Kohli was covering the swing well although he played and missed often until one ball moved away late to send him back to the dressing room, a pleased as punch Kagiso Rabada said after getting his 14th five-wicket haul in Test cricket.
South Africa sharpen spin game in attacking net session ahead of Eden Test
India captain Shubman Gill, head coach Gautam Gambhir along with Jasprit Bumrah, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel arrived in Kolkata late on Sunday ahead of the upcoming two-Test series against South Africa.
WTC-bound SA players to miss play-offs after BCCI asks teams to release them by May 26
Kagiso Rabada picked up 25 wickets in 12 games in last year's IPL.
'You have a lot of options if you want to see. You can remove Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill and you can open with Sai Sudharsan and Ruturaj Gaikwad...'
IMAGES from the first Test played between South Africa and India in Centurion on Tuesday
South African pace duo Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje joined the Delhi Capitals squad in Mumbai on Tuesday ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League, starting on April 9.
The board said no replacement will be brought in for Rabada as there is an extended squad in place in the Bio-Secure Environment (BSE), but George Linde has been retained from the Test team as an extra spin-bowling option for the series.
India will look to address several lingering selection puzzles when they take on South Africa in Ranchi on Sunday in the first ODI of the three-match series, where Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli return to the set-up for a short audition that could well shape their 2027 World Cup fate.
'Of course, when you face a quality bowling attack, they can more often than not get the ball in the danger area and it does too much for you. And unfortunately, that's been the case today.'
India A skipper Rishabh Pant will look to build on the gains from the first match, while the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav will aim for crucial red-ball game time in the second four-day match against a Temba Bavuma-led South Africa A in Bengaluru from Thursday.
Gujarat Titans will be aiming for a top-two spot even as Chennai Super Kings continue planning for the future when the two teams meet in the Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Australia's Glenn Maxwell produced an unbeaten half-century in a tense chase to help the hosts edge out South Africa by two wickets in the third and final Twenty20 International and complete a 2-1 series victory in Cairns on Saturday.
With South Africa's seam attack featuring Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, and Marco Jansen and Australia having Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and the ever-dependable Josh Hazlewood in their lineup, the battle between the two sides' fast bowlers is likely to be critical in determining the outcome of the World Test Championship final, as per ICC website.
Australia took the upper hand in the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord's, ending day two on 144-8 in their second innings with a lead of 218 runs after wickets tumbled freely again on Thursday.
Quinton de Kock has reversed his retirement from ODI cricket and has been named in both the ODI and T20I squads for the Pakistan tour.
Armed with a potent spin attack, taking on South Africa seems like competing against a "subcontinent team", Ten Doeschate said, admitting that they need to get better at negotiating the challenge posed by tweakers.
South Africa pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada is still bitter about the scheduling fiasco which saw him miss the two-Test series in New Zealand.
Images from Day 1 of the first Test between India and South Africa, in Kolkata, on Friday.
India's awe-inspiring batting depth will face a stern test against South Africa's quality spin attack in the first Test, starting in Kolkata on Friday.
South Africa will aim for their first Test victory in India in more than 15 years.
Rishabh Pant, who hit two centuries in the Headingley Test, now trails top-ranked batter Joe Root by just 88 points.
Ryan Rickelton posted the joint seventh-highest score by a South African in Tests with 259 as his side ran up a huge 615 before reducing Pakistan to 64/4 at the close on Day 2.
CSA's director Enoch Nkwe changed his stance, saying higher-level talks were happening between CSA, the BCCI, and IPL franchises, suggesting CSA had little choice in the matter.
Six uncapped players named in South Africa ODI squad
Kagiso Rabada claimed the key wickets of Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav at crucial junctures, to turn the game in Punjab Kings's favour.
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