Mahendra Singh Dhoni scored the winning runs as Heroes XI beat Rest of the World XI by four wickets in the inaugural T20 fundraiser 'Cricket for Heroes' at the Kia Oval, in London, on Friday.
JP Duminy scored his fourth Test century and his first in the subcontinent to steer South Africa to a first innings total of 455 for nine wickets declared on the second day of the first Test against Sri Lanka on Thursday.
Former India captain Rahul Dravid says the islanders may not be front-runners to win the World Cup this time around, but the fact that they are a very close-knit unit gives them the edge.
While India have been busy with their preparations in Sri Lanka, focus among the locals is slowly shifting to their heroic batsman Kumar Sangakkara.
The BCCI also wrote a few words wishing luck to the former SA captain.
Rediff.com takes a look at a few brilliant efforts which, unfortunately, were in a losing cause.
Australia will play their first Test series in Sri Lanka in more than five years, with a three-match series beginning on July 26 in Kandy. The Australians will embark on a two-month tour of the island nation from July 11, playing three Tests, five ODIs and two T20 Internationals. Steve Smith's side leapfrogged India in February to finish the latest 12-month period in first spot on the ICC Test Championship table, while Sri Lanka have dropped to seventh place after a disappointing year following the retirements of legendary batting duo Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena. Only three members of the Australian side that beat the Black Caps in their most recent Test series - Nathan Lyon, Peter Siddle and Usman Khawaja - have experienced Test cricket in Sri Lanka.
England will return on Thursday to chase down a 240-run victory target and stay alive in the seven-match contest against Sri Lanka after rain forced play to be suspended in the fifth one-day international in Pallekele on Wednesday.
Kumar Sangakkara laid the foundation before Angelo Mathews completed a nervy chase as Sri Lanka beat England by six wickets in the fourth One-Day International.
Tillakaratne Dilshan hit an unbeaten 74 off 51 deliveries to take Sri Lanka to a six-wicket consolation win in the third and final Twenty20 match over South Africa which has secured the series 2-1.
Undergoing a transition phase, defending champions Sri Lanka may not be in their elements in the build-up to the ICC World T20 but skipper Angelo Mathews today said it is good to carry the underdogs tag as it does not put the team under pressure. "The fact that we are coming as underdogs releases the pressure. Yes, we didn't do well in the Asia Cup but we're getting better day by day. I'm confident of my team's progress," Mathews said on the eve of their Super 10 opener against Afghanistan. Mathews said that his team needed just one win to get the momentum back. "We're not looking too far ahead at the moment and we will take one game at a time. We need one good game to get our momentum back," said the skipper. Afghanistan almost pulled off an upset during the 2015 World Cup in Australia when they threatened to chase down 237 before being bowled out for 232 in 49.4 overs and Mathews said Afghans were no more the minnows.
In an effort to popularize cricket in the US, several icons including master blaster Sachin Tendulkar and spin wizard Shane Warne will play T20 matches in the US in November.
Openers Upul Tharanga and Mahela Jayawardene hit centuries to power Sri Lanka to a crushing 161-run victory against India in the third match of the tri-nation series in Jamaica, on Tuesday.
The veteran left-hander was unbeaten on 160 as Sri Lanka reached the close of play on 314 for five after captain Angelo Mathews had won the toss and opted to bat.
Veteran Sri Lankan wicket-keeper batsman Kumar Sangakkara is set to bid adieu to international cricket by the end of August, when the island nation hosts India in a three-match Test series.
Backing Virat Kohli's five-bowler theory to win Test matches, former batsman Russel Arnold said that the Indian pace attack has the variety to match their Sri Lankan counterparts.
Kumar Sangakkara struck his 37th Test hundred as he and his retiring team mate Mahela Jayawardene powered Sri Lanka to 252 for two wickets before rain washed out the final session on day three of the first Test against Pakistan on Friday.
Brendon McCullum gave the cricket World Cup an explosive opening, scoring a blazing 65, as New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 98 runs on Saturday.
Unfortunately, the day chosen for the match was the actual day of Diwali and cricket starved Houstonians were in a dilemma about staying home with family and friends or going to watch their back-in-action cricket heroes.
Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne met with ICC Chief Executive Dave Richardson at the global body's headquarters in Dubai on Wednesday to discuss their ambitious Legends T20 cricket League, proposed to be held in the United States in August-September.
Clinical India notched up another resounding win to humble a hapless Sri Lankan side by six wickets and clinch the five-match series in the third One-Day International in Hyderabad.
West Indies skipper Dwayne Bravo says he had "sent a message" to Chris Gayle as he was making a mockery of the Sri Lankan attack, telling the opener to try and go for a bonus-point win in the first match of the Tri-nation One-Day series in Kingston, Jamaica.
Seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar wreaked havoc with a brilliant opening spell as he powered India into the final of the tri-series following a convincing 81-run victory over Sri Lanka via the Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain-affected match in Trinidad, on Tuesday.
Out-of-form Sri Lanka must play every pool game at the World Cup as if it were a knockout match to ignite their stuttering campaign, captain Angelo Mathews said.
Controversial England batsman Kevin Pietersen will be one of the first players to go under the hammer, along with senior India discards Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh, when the two-day auction for the cash-rich IPL commences in Bangalore on February 12. The initial list of 651 players was pruned to 514, including 219 capped players, by the IPL governing council.
Hamstrung, running out of partners and his team's title defence at stake -- the stage was set for Angelo Mathews to emerge from the Saturday night drizzle and enter Twenty20 folklore but the Sri Lankan captain fell agonisingly short. At 15-4, after England had set them a 172-run victory target in the World Twenty20 match, Sri Lanka's title defence looked all but over inside three overs. Their skipper then engineered a stunning recovery in the tournament's most portentous contest that was key to the semi-final hopes of three teams, including South Africa. But the lion-hearted effort took its toll on his hamstring and Mathews was clearly struggling when he took guard for the final over from Ben Stokes -- 15 runs separating him from Twenty20 greatness and his team from a place in the last four. As a mild drizzle fell on the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, Stokes charged in with a ball in hand and ice in veins to thwart Mathews' audacious bid to pull off a heist.
Lasith Malinga is fit for Sri Lanka's opening World Cup clash against New Zealand.
Lost in transition, defending champions Sri Lanka will look to come out of the rut and start well against a spirited Afghanistan in their World Twenty20 Super 10 opener at Eden Gardens on Thursday. The defending champions, who were also runners-up in 2009 and 2012, have managed to win only four of their 14 matches since they beat India to win the 2014 edition in Mirpur. They are in the middle of a transition phase after Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene's exit. The build-up to the tournament was also forgettable with series defeats in New Zealand and India followed by an early ouster in Asia Cup. To add to the misery, their 2014 WT20 winning skipper Lasith Malinga has stepped down as leader of the team, following concern over his slow recovery from a knee injury. Now Test and ODI skipper Angelo Mathews' task is cutout. Having joined the squad on Tuesday, Malinga is a doubtful starter for the match. His presence in the team would impact the team a lot.
India thrashed New Zealand by 53 runs to give veteran fast bowler Ashish Nehra a winning farewell, in the first Twenty20 International in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The 8th Champions Trophy begins in England this week. Rajneesh Gupta captures the tournament in all its statistical glory like only he can.
The Trent Bridge Triumph was India's second biggest win against England in England. Rajneesh Gupta serves up the interesting numbers from the third Test.
The evergreen Kumar Sangakkara struck his 36th Test century, and first at Lord's, as he guided Sri Lanka past the follow-on mark to finish on 415 for seven on the third day of the first Test against England on Saturday.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews conceded that it will be 'very hard to beat India' in the ICC Champions Trophy Group B match in London, on Thursday.
A magnificent century by Moeen Ali proved in vain as England suffered a 25-run defeat to Sri Lanka in the first of seven one-day internationals on Wednesday.
The cricketing world on Thursday gave Indian batsman Rohit Sharma's outstanding knock of 264 against Sri Lanka a standing ovation, with the Mumbai lad's innings propelling his team to a 153-run win.
Hosts India might have outplayed them in the first three ODIs but Sri Lankan team management is keen to include experienced spinner Ajantha Mendis in the playing XI for the fourth ODI scheduled on Thursday.
A fit-again Rohit Sharma and Manish Pandey slammed strokeful centuries as India A feasted on Sri Lanka's mediocre attack before registering a comfortable 88-run victory in a warm-up match for the visitors ahead of their ODI series against India at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) on Thursday.
Sri Lanka shot out the Netherlands for just 39 runs, the lowest ever Twenty20 International total, before winning the Super 10 match in the World Twenty20 by nine wickets, in Chittagong, on Monday.
South Africa batted cautiously to reach 98 for three as they try to preserve their 1-0 lead in the series in the second Test and final against Sri Lanka on Friday.
Uncapped Surrey all-rounder Zafar Ansari was named in England's squad on Tuesday for the forthcoming three Test series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.
