South Africa need six more wickets with two days still to play to win the second Test against Sri Lanka, who closed the third day at Newlands on Wednesday on 130 for four, still 377 runs behind the mammoth target set them. Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada both took two wickets in the Sri Lankan second innings as the home team closed in on victory and an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. South Africa have ample time to whittle away the rest of the Sri Lankan batting while the visitors, set 507 runs to win, must survive six more sessions if they are to force a most improbable outcome.
Lionel Messi scored a penalty for the third Champions League game in a row with the Spaniards maintaining their winning start to the group stage.
Jehan Mubarak scored an unbeaten 60 to guide Sri Lanka to a narrow two-wicket win over Zimbabwe on Friday, giving the visitors a 4-0 lead in the five-match series. Zimbabwe, put in to bat, were skittled for 146 in 46.3 overs as spinner Ajantha Mendis took six for 29.
Juventus's hopes of reaching the Champions League last eight suffered a blow when the two-times European Cup winners slumped to a 1-0 defeat in their last-16 first leg at Olympique Lyonnais on Wednesday. Manchester City finally produced a Champions League performance worthy of their status as one of European football's elite clubs by beating Real Madrid 2-1 away in Wednesday's last-16 first leg after pulling off a stunning late fightback.
Sri Lanka will look towards veteran Lasith Malinga to deliver with the ball and get them back on the winning path after their horror showing in the three-Test series.
Sachin Tendulkar's 18-year-old son announced his arrival in the international arena with a wicket in his first 12 balls for India U-19, and the significance of the game was not lost on the cricket fraternity.
Images from Day 4 of the second Test between Sri Lanka and India in Colombo, on Sunday.
Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane made up for the absence of Sergio Ramos by scoring one goal and making another to help his side to a hard-fought 3-0 win at Getafe. La Liga leaders Barcelona were held to a 2-2 draw at struggling Espanyol on Saturday as China striker Wu Lei came off the bench to grab a late equaliser in a pulsating city derby.
Paceman Dushmantha Chameera took career-best figures with aggressive short-pitched bowling to give Sri Lanka a slight advantage at the close of play on the second day of the second Test against New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Saturday.
Dinesh Chandimal and Dimuth Karunaratne obstinately defied New Zealand's bowlers for much of the second day of the first Test at University Oval in Dunedin on Friday though the hosts still have the upper hand.
It was not the free-flowing City of late and Tottenham will rue missing some good chances to salvage something from a disjointed affair on a patchwork pitch at a half-empty Wembley.
Already-qualified France played out an uninspiring goalless draw with Denmark in their final World Cup Group C match at Moscow's Luzhniki stadium on Tuesday, which was enough to ensure that both teams advance to the knockout stage.
Sri Lanka's cricket administration crisis has escalated with suspended cricket officials challenging the sports minister's authority.
Sri Lanka opener Kaushal Silva has recovered from a blow to the head he suffered while fielding last weekend to be named in the test squad for next month's tour of England.
The 35-year-old has been bamboozling batsmen for 15 years now on the international scene and yet still somehow retains the element of surprise.
Images from the World Cup Pool A match between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in Dunedin on Sunday
France coach Jacques Santini's team for the FIFA centenary match against Brazil in Paris on May 20.
Australia's stand-in skipper David Warner led by example, hitting a brilliant century in their five-wicket win against Sri Lanka to complete a 4-1 series victory on Sunday.
Elated after India's decimation of Sri Lanka in the just-concluded One-Day Internationals, stand-in skipper Virat Kohli said the biggest takeaway from the hurriedly-arranged series has been the positive and aggressive attitude that his team displayed all through.
Sri Lanka's Kaushal Silva roared back into form with a century in the final Test against Australia on Tuesday, boosting the hosts' hopes of a 3-0 sweep against the world number one team at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo.
Medium-pacer Deepti Sharma grabbed six wickets before Veda Krishnamurthy scored a half-century as India women completed 3-0 clean sweep after posting a comfortable seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the third and final ODI on Friday at Ranchi. Deepti followed up her four-for in the previous game with figures of six for 20 to bundle out Sri Lanka for a paltry 112 in 38.2 overs. India then crossed the target in just 29.3 overs with Veda Krishnamurthy top-scoring with an unbeaten 61. Sri Lanka got off to a good start after electing to bat, with openers Yasoda Mendis (14) and Prasadani Weerakkody (19) adding 33 before Deepti took two wickets in two consecutive deliveries to trigger a dramatic collapse. Although captain Shashikala Siriwardene (14) and Dilani Manodara (23) later combined for a 32-run sixth-wicket stand, wickets kept falling and Sri Lanka were ultimately bowled out for 112 from 94 for five at one stage. Debutant Preeti Bose also put up an impressive show, returning figures of 8-4-8-2.
The Sri Lankan skipper had stunned everyone last month when he revealed that he had received a special blessing from a meyni ahead of their surprise series sweep against Pakistan in the UAE.
Included in Barcelona squad to face Dortmund
Bangladesh lost four wickets in the final session to slump to 214 for five on day two of their second and final Test against Sri Lanka on Thursday.
Off-spinner Dilruwan Perera picked five wickets as Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 68 runs in the second Test in Dubai on Tuesday and won the series 2-0. Perera had figures of 5-98 as Pakistan, chasing 317 for victory, were bowled out for 248 in the second hour of fifth and final day at Dubai stadium.
Sarfraz Ahmed will continue as Pakistan captain at the World Cup in May despite serving a suspension for breaching the anti-racism code, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ehsan Mani said on Tuesday.
"Sergio Aguero will be assessed by Club doctors today after being involved in a road accident on Thursday," City said of the Argentina striker in a statement on their website. (www.mancity.com)
India are favourites to 'steamroll' Australia in the Test series Down Under due to the absence of the experienced duo of Steve Smith and David Warner.
France are favourites as Moscow basked in sweltering summer sun
Australia beat Sri Lanka by 41 runs in their final Twenty20 game on Wednesday, avoiding a whitewash in the three-match series and salvaging some pride.
India have won the Asia Cup six times, Sri Lanka five, and Pakistan have won it just twice. As the 14th edition of Asia's own trophy gets underway on Saturday, Rajneesh Gupta presents the numbers on the 13 editions so far.
Chennaiyin FC's optimistic coach Marco Materazzi stressed on the need to click as a unit, implying that the departure of the mercurial Stiven Mendoza and Elano Blumer would not affect the defending champions in Indian Super League 3.
France stretched their unbeaten run against Croatia to eight games after a late goal by Kylian Mbappe gave the world champions a 2-1 win in their Nations League top-tier Group 3 match on Wednesday.
Saha, 32, possesses none of his predecessor's flamboyance or big-hitting ability with the bat but his dexterity behind the stumps, to go with his determination in front of them, has meant that Dhoni, who now plays only limited-overs cricket, has not really been missed.
His Australian counterpart Steve Smith was crowned ICC Test cricketer of the Year, cricket's world body announced on Thursday.
Dhananjaya de Silva enhanced his rapidly-growing reputation with an unbeaten 43 as he kept South Africa's strike bowlers at bay to see Sri Lanka to 181 for seven in their first innings at the end of the second day of the first Test on Tuesday. The 25-year-old, who hit a six with his first scoring shot when he made his Test debut against Australia in July, brought Sri Lanka within 105 runs of South Africa's first innings total of 286 before bad light stopped play for the day.
Niroshan Dickwella and Asela Gunaratne hit crucial half centuries to guide Sri Lanka to their highest-ever run chase as the hosts defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets on the final day of an intriguing one-off Test on Tuesday.
