Australia reduced South Africa to 149 for six at the close of play on the fourth day of the rain-disrupted third Test on Saturday after declaring on 475/4 in pursuit of a victory that would give them a 3-0 series sweep.
India announced themselves as genuine contenders to defend their World Cup title on Sunday by humbling South Africa's vaunted pace attack before bowling out the Proteas for an emphatic 130-run victory at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Matthew Wade said he would be happy to remain at the top of Australia's order for the rest of the series
ICC shared impressive television broadcast, digital audience and attendance numbers from the tournament on Thursday, which it said have set 'new benchmarks'. According to ICC estimates, 70% of the game's billion-plus fans want to see more women's cricket, which resulted in 1.1 billion video views for the tournament in Australia.
Siraj was rewarded for his tough decision as he took two wickets on an emotional debut to help India bowl Australia out for 195
Ferguson, who will need five to six weeks to recover, is returning to New Zealand and a replacement for him will be named on Tuesday, coach Gary Stead told reporters on Monday.
Wives and partners of team members cheering on their men.
Aaron Finch smashed a sparkling century as Australia dealt England a 111-run humiliation in their World Cup opener at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday.
Cricket Australia is open to the idea of shifting the Boxing Day Test to Perth, where the situation is under control.
Finch suffered the injury while batting during the team's 27-run loss at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which saw India take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Australian pace spearhead Mitchell Starc described Virat Kohli as a 'fantastic captain', having shared the dressing room with the India captain while representing Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League.
Steven Smith scored a brilliant century (192) as Australia recorded a massive 530 in the first innings as Indian bowlers were hammered all over the park. Losing the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan (28), India ended the day on 108 for 1 in their reply. Check out some of the images from the second day's play of the 3rd Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Kohli was in pain during Melbourne Test and was also seen having a taping on his waist while fielding but he has now learnt to manage it.
I have no idea how that happened, lost for words, says Virat Kohli
Pacer Mohammad Siraj said the plan is to concentrate on the basics and to end Australia's innings as soon as possible on Tuesday.
'No one was able to beat South Africa but Pakistan have shown they are beatable'
Images from Day 2 of the third Test between Australia and South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni praised Rohit Sharma, who has been in good form in the ODI cricket for the past two years, terming him as someone, who now knows the art of "building on good starts".
On the ropes at 43-4 early in their innings, Pakistan rallied behind spectacular half centuries from Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan to post 185 for nine and delight the lively crowd of 30,000 roaring them on at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The president of the International Cricket Council (ICC), Mustafa Kamal is the persona non-grata in the game's governing body as he was not given a chance to present the World Cup trophy, an insult which has left him fuming, so much so that he is even threatening to take legal action.
Sachin Tendulkar was invited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be part of his official delegation for the Australia tour later this month, but the cricket icon has expressed his inability to make the trip due to prior commitments.
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald said the hosts would field their strongest side against Pakistan, which means a welcome return for spinner Nathan Lyon, who will chase his 500th Test wicket after injury ruled him out of the last three matches of the Ashes.
The return of shooting, which was controversially dropped from the Birmingham CWG earlier this year, is a welcome development for India.
Australia cricket coach Darren Lehmann has defended wicketkeeper Brad Haddin and the team's vocal aggression.
'There is no comfort zone at the international level, there is no comfort zone in training, there is no comfort zone in preparation. So, people who want to relate this to comfort zone should really have a reality check that it's pressure, not a comfort zone.'
Australia made it to the ICC women's T20 World Cup final, coming through a nerve-shredding semi-final against South Africa in Sydney on Thursday. They'll face India at the MCG on March 8 - International Women's Day. India's semi-final against England was abandoned without a ball bowled.
Impressed with the excellent bowling show by the Indian team so far, former captain Sunil Gavaskar has said that the bowlers have combined well as a unit to pick all the opposition wickets in the seven wins on the trot in the ongoing World Cup.
Maxwell closer to return, trains with Victoria
Australia's cricket board will launch an 'immediate' review into player safety in the wake of Phillip Hughes' death, as the global cricket community mourned on Friday.
Opener Alyssa Healy bludgeoned England's bowlers in a furious 170 as Australia set a mammoth victory target of 357 in the Women's World Cup final in Christchurch on Sunday.
Sporting fraternity hails Kohli's epic knock in win against Pakistan as one of a kind
Ireland, who have already upset West Indies at the tournament, produced a disciplined bowling performance to restrict England's big hitters.
It was a bitter pill for James Anderson and England's bowlers, who had battled hard to limit Australia to 267 and give their batsmen a chance to set the home side a chase.
Phillip Hughes' tragic death came back to haunt Australia after star all-rounder Shane Watson was hit on the helmet by a vicious bouncer from pacer James Pattinson during their training session at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Tuesday.
'Someone's got to do it and I might put my hand up. It's part of the game and what happened the other day with Shane (Watson) and Wahab (Riaz) was exceptional'
Pacer Josh Hazlewood claimed career-best Twenty20 international figures of 4-12 to guide Australia to a 20-run victory over Sri Lanka at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday, in a rain-affected opener of the five-match series.
Australia captain Aaron Finch will miss the third and final T20 International against India in Sydney on Sunday because of a left hamstring injury he suffered, on Friday, and he will be replaced in the squad by Usman Khawaja.
James Faulkner's attempt to engage India's Virat Kohli in a war of words during the third ODI in Melbourne backfired on the Australian paceman as the star batsman emphatically told him to just keep bowling as "I have smashed you enough in my life".
A thick gloom that has pervaded the West Indies lifted briefly on Monday as paceman Carlos Brathwaite struck a defiant half-century on debut and celebrated wildly upon taking his first wicket during the second Test against Australia.
Australia were 126/3 at stumps on Day 1 of the 4th Ashes Test against England at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday.
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