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.
France coach Jacques Santini's team for the FIFA centenary match against Brazil in Paris on May 20.
His Australian counterpart Steve Smith was crowned ICC Test cricketer of the Year, cricket's world body announced on Thursday.
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.
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.
Liverpool did not reveal the transfer fee but Southampton announced it was "a new world-record for a defender" with English media reporting that it was a 75 million pounds ($100.49 million) deal.
Cricket teams have previously abandoned tours amid outbreaks of violence.
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.
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.
The India captain dropped three points despite a first innings score of 82 in the third Test in Melbourne, but still enjoys a 34-point lead over Kane Williamson.
Anuja Patil produced a cameo with the bat to lift the team to 130 and then took three wickets to guide India Women to a 34-run win over Sri Lanka Women in the first Twenty20 International on Monday. With this victory, India Women have taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20 series. Opting to bat, India Women posted 130 for six and then managed to restrict Sri Lanka to 96 for seven in 20 overs. Indian eves did not have an ideal start as they lost skipper Mithali Raj (3) and V R Vanitha (12) early to be reeling at 15 for 2 in four overs. But responsible batting by Smriti Mandhana (35) and Harmanpreet Kaur (36) put India back on track. Anuja provided the final flourish after coming in to bat at No.6. She hit three fours during her 22 that came off 17 balls. Left-arm spinner Sugandika Kumari was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka. She accounted for the top three and ended with figures of three for 28. Chasing a modest target, Sri Lanka lost opener Yasoda Mendis for eight with Anuja striking in the very first over. In her second over, Anuja returned to dismiss the other opener Chamari Atapattu for a duck to reduce the visitors to 13 for two.
Skipper Mehidy Hasan's all-round effort helped host Bangladesh eke out a close three-wicket win over Sri Lanka with three deliveries to spare, to finish third in the International Cricket Council Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2016, in Fatullah, on Saturday.
If the home fans had hoped the change in format would bring a change in fortune, they were left bitterly disappointed with India breezing to their 217-run target in under 29 overs.
Paceman Mohammed Shami struck twice as India closed in on a massive win on day three of the third and final Test against Sri Lanka on Monday.
Sri Lanka have included pace spearhead Lasith Malinga in their 15-man squad for the Cricket World Cup despite concerns over his fitness after ankle surgery, the country's cricket board said on Wednesday.
France head into their World Cup opener against Australia in Kazan on Saturday sweating on the fitness of fullback Djibril Sidibe and under pressure to deliver an emphatic win to erase doubts about the cohesion of a team of brilliant individuals.
Among others, Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan has moved up to take top position among bowlers with some fine performances in a 2-0 series win over Zimbabwe.
Both sides will be high on confidence with an aim to come out all guns blazing.
European champions Portugal spurned a two-goal lead against Tunisia, stumbling to a 2-2 draw, as France, one of the World Cup favourites, flexed their muscles with a comfortable 2-0 win over Ireland in warm-up friendlies on Monday.
Jordan Ayew scored for Lorient against his former side Olympique de Marseille as the Ligue 1 leaders were held to a 1-1 draw on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka's bowlers bundled out England for 185 before the hosts chased down the target with eight wickets to spare in the rain-hit second One-day international on Saturday to take a 2-0 lead in the seven-match series.
Images from Sunday's Premier League matches.
Eden Hazard finally scored his first goal for Real Madrid as his side beat second-placed Granada 4-2 in a highly entertaining game at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday to go four points clear at the top of La Liga.
Steve Smith and Aaron Finch struck half-centuries to help Australia to a three-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first One-day international in Colombo on Sunday. Sri Lanka, who lost the toss and were sent out to bat on a dry, turning wicket, set the visitors a target of 228, but Australia successfully chased them down with 19 balls to spare to give them the lead in the five-match series.
Images from the football matches played across Europe on Sunday
This is Tharanga's second ban in recent times after he suffered a similar two-match ban for slow over-rate in the Champions Trophy when he had led the side against South Africa in the absence of then-skipper Angelo Mathews.
Statistical highlights of the second ODI between India and Sri Lanka in Pallekele.
With Rahul likely to bat at No 4, asks Harish Kotian, will Ajinkya Rahane get a look in?
India carried its domination from the Test series into the One-day format and achieved its biggest ever win in terms of overs left while chasing a 200-plus total.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday.
Images from Day 2 of the second Test between Sri Lanka and India in Colombo, on Friday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Rohit Sharma-led India's main aim would be to settle their middle-order combination and also find a perfect batting position for Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Statistical highlights on Day 3 of the third cricket Test between India and Sri Lanka in New Delhi on Monday
Sri Lanka have suffered a double injury blow with batsman Dimuth Karunaratne almost certainly out of the World Cup and spinner Rangana Herath likely to miss at least a week of action, Mahela Jayawardene said on Friday.
Kylian Mbappe and Radamel Falcao struck early as Monaco reached the Champions League semi-finals with a 3-1 home win over Borussia Dortmund in an enthralling game on Wednesday that sealed a 6-3 aggregate victory.
The 2019 edition in England & Wales might be only 15 games old but set a fascinating pattern right from the very first ball when South Africa opened up with the leg spin of Imran Tahir.
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