Australia captain Steve Smith expects his touring batsmen to be given a thorough test of their credentials when they face South Africa's formidable attack on pace-friendly pitches in a four-Test series beginning in March.
An explosive unbeaten 85 from David Miller and some hostile bowling by the fast bowlers helped South Africa to beat Sri Lanka by 56 runs in Pallekele on Friday and stay alive in the five-match series.
India's batting woes in South Africa continued as the visitors folded up for 187 on Day 1.
KKR's Australian opener avoids surgery after another shoulder injury
Off-spinner Dane Piedt raised hopes of an unlikely South African victory as he grabbed three wickets on Wednesday to leave England on 155 for six at tea on the final day of the high-scoring second Test.
Pacer Vernon Philander claimed six for 21 as South Africa thrashed Australia by a huge margin of 492 runs to claim the four-match series 3-1, in Johannesburg, on Tuesday.
Cheteshwar Pujara, India's batting mainstay in Test cricket, has surged to a career-high third position in the ICC Rankings after scoring back to back centuries against Sri Lanka in the ongoing three-match series.
Captain Virat Kohli roared back to form with a scintillating unbeaten 83 as India further consolidated their position with whopping overall lead of 403 runs at stumps on Day 3 of the fourth and final Test against South Africa at the Feroz Shah Kotla, in Delhi, on Saturday.
To combat defending champions India in Sunday's World cup match, the South African team management has brought in Gary Kirsten, Mike Hussey and Allan Donald.
Cheteshwar Pujara is set to play his 100th Test when the second Test gets underway on Friday, and ahead of the milestone match, Pujara opened up on his best knocks and preparations in a candid chat.
Dale Steyn became South Africa's second highest wicket taker as West Indies reached 276 for six on the first day of the third Test on Friday.
The more he has been dropped down the order - for this Test the former opener came in at number eight - the more he has accepted that his primary role is to take wickets.
The 33-year-old, who has taken a break from Tests to manage his workload, missed the final of South Africa's domestic 50-overs tournament with a back injury, which also kept him out of Royal Challengers Bangalore's IPL opener against Delhi.
Gautam Gambhir is a politician by choice but a cricketer at heart whose brain never stops ticking when it comes to conceptualising, planning and execution.
Kagiso Rabada produced a sublime spell of bowling to take five wickets as Australia were dismissed for 243 in their first innings on the opening day of the second Test on Friday.
The 22-yard strip at the Feroz Shah Kotla will be the cynosure of all eyes as a buoyant India seeks their biggest series triumph against South Africa when they square off in the final Test of the four-match rubber in Delhi on Thursday.
AB de Villiers' masterly 85 in his 100th test could not gloss over South Africa's spin frailty as India took charge of the second Test after dominating the opening day at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.
South Africa are to gamble on the fitness of Quinton de Kock and JP Duminy, who were named on Wednesday in a 15-man squad for the Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand next month.
Andre Russell's spectacular all-round performance powered defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders to a convincing four-wicket victory against Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League, in Pune, on Saturday.
Former captain Mahela Jayawardene hit a classy unbeaten century to help Sri Lanka close on 305 for five on the first day of the second Test against South Africa in Colombo on Thursday. In a chanceless six hours at the crease, Jayawardene finished on 140 not out off 225 balls, including one six and 16 fours, to give Sri Lanka a solid start in their bid to level the two-match series.
Having pocketed the series 4-1, with a match still to go, India snatch ICC ODI top rank from Proteas
South Africa's talismanic captain AB de Villiers has recovered from injury and been included in the Proteas squad for the One-day series at home against Australia starting later this month.
South Africa's success in Australia is often put down to their comfort on the hard local tracks, which can be similar to those at home, but they could face some unfamiliar conditions this year.
Galle has built a reputation as a spinners' paradise but Australia captain Steve Smith hopes there will be substantial reverse swing at the venue as his top-ranked team bid for a series-levelling win against Sri Lanka in the second test. Sri Lanka inflicted a 106-run defeat on the touring side at Pallekele last week in the opening match of the three-test series with the spinners taking 18 out of 20 Australian wickets to fall.
With an unassailable 3-0 lead in hand, India need just one more win to claim their maiden ODI series triumph on South African soil.
Chahal and Yadav (3/20) continued their wrist-spin magic and shared eight wickets for 42 runs between them to rattle the hosts in 32.2 overs after Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bowl.
South Africa will be hoping to ease new coach Ottis Gibson into his job in a two-Test series against Bangladesh where the home side defend a one-sided record against their opponents but are light on fast bowlers and still tinkering with their top order.
South Africa are still fretting over the fitness of their key batting all rounder Jean-Paul Duminy ahead of their opening Test against hosts India commencing at Mohali on November 5.
Paceman Dale Steyn returned from a brief vacation to inspire South Africa and spinner Imran Tahir took four wickets as they throttled Pakistan's batsmen to win the third one-day international in Abu Dhabi by 68 runs on Wednesday.
Robin Uthappa smashed his way to a quickfire half-century as Kolkata Knight Riders notched up a comfortable six-wicket victory over Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League in Mohali, on Tuesday.
ICC's proposal to introduce four-day Tests has met with stiff opposition
A humdinger on cards as South Africa chase first series win in India
South Africa exceeded expectations by scoring 431 in their first innings. At stumps on Day 4, they were 11 for one, needing another 384 runs for an improbably victory.
Dale Steyn is all set to go out all guns blazing in Melbourne, when South Africa takes on India in World Cup Pool B match.
An unbroken second-wicket century stand between Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara put India in command on a curtailed opening day in the second Test against South Africa in Durban, on Thursday. Bad light forced play to be called off early, with India sitting pretty on 181 for 1 in 61 overs after electing to bat first.
Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders take on Rajasthan Royals at the Brabourne stadium, in Mumbai, on Saturday, in a perform-or-perish contest, as the race for play-off berths in IPL 8 hots up.
Having won the series, India would like to carry on momentum forward, especially with the three-match T20I series to follow soon after. Yet, the visitors would also like to find a balance between going all out in a dead rubber and resting a few players keeping in mind a long overseas schedule later this year.
Kolkata Knight Riders' bowling coach Wasim Akram has said that captain Gautam Gambhir's leadership and the team bonding is responsible for its success in the IPL and the ongoing Oppo Champions League T20.
The Pretoria wicket is likely to be similar, with perhaps not the same sideways movement of Newlands, and will provide another test of the Indian batsmen's bravery against a seam bowling barrage.
The three-Test South Africa series is the first of a gruelling 2018-19 season that includes tours to England and Australia.
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