Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has picked Pakistani speedster Shoaib Akhtar as the toughest bowler he has faced in his illustrious international career.
Hashim Amla's blistering stroke-play and Morne Morkel's fearsome bowling put South Africa in control of the second Test against Australia as they closed the third day on 192 for four on Saturday.
England debutant Toby Roland-Jones wreaked havoc as he picked four wickets to have South Africa reeling at 126 for 8 at stumps on Day 2 of the third Test at the Oval on Friday.
Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders would look to return to winning ways.
'I don't regret missing out on the century but on losing after setting a good target'
South Africa skipper AB de Villiers led from the front with an all-round show to help South Africa thrash minnows UAE.
Women cricketers Sara McGlashan and Sarah Taylor were also handed the honour.
South Africa have added fast bowler Marchant de Lange to their squad for the final two Test matches in India as concerns remain over the fitness of attack spearhead Dale Steyn.
Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj ran through the Bangladesh batting order to lead South Africa to an emphatic 333-run victory in the first test as the visitors capitulated meekly on the final morning on Monday.
A resurgent Sunrisers Hyderabad have been on a slow but sure climb but it is defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders who hold a psychological edge when the teams face-off in their Indian Premier League match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Monday.
South Africa's Temba Bavuma was left stranded on 95 not out as they tightened their grip over scandal-hit Australia after reducing the hapless visitors to 110 for six at the close on the second day of the fourth and final Test on Saturday.
SunRisers Hyderabad beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 16 runs (via Duckworth/Lewis method) in their rain-curtailed Indian Premier League match in Visakhapatnam.
Eight teams have formed some of the best combinations from a pool of 64 top cricketers in the players' draft for T10League -- the limited ten-over format cricket -- that will be played at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
South Africa have included the world's number one test bowler Vernon Philander in their preliminary 30-man squad for the World Twenty20 tournament to be played in Bangladesh in March and April next year.
David Warner thumped a run-a-ball century as Australia dominated the opening day of the third and final Test against South Africa, piling up 331 for three at Newlands on Saturday.
South African speedster Dale Steyn, who has been marred by a string of injuries (groin and shoulder), will be returning to competitive cricket in a club game in Cape Town. Steyn will play for Western Province Cricket Club against St Augustine in his bid to prove his fitness for next month's three T20s against Australia ahead the much-important World T20 in India. Steyn, who missed out owing to a groin injury during the tour to India injured his shoulder in the first Test against England and has been out of competitive cricket since close to two months. Despite his injury, the 32-year-old was included in the squad South Africa keeping a replacement ready if he failed to make it. Proteas T20 skipper Faf du Plessis said, "Steyn looks fully fit but a call could only be taken on whether he will travel to the tournament if he gets through the matches against Australia."
South Africa made an early breakthrough with the wicket of West Indian Leon Johnson when play got underway on a rain-delayed fourth day of the third and final Test at Newlands on Monday.
South African skipper A B de Villiers blamed 'unforced errors' and 'miscommunication in the heat of the battle' for the 26-run loss to India in their Champions Trophy in Cardiff.
Williamson had moved to 148 at stumps with Mitchell Santner on 13, the home side holding a seven run lead over South Africa's first innings of 314.
'As Test team, we stand in a good position. Whole credit goes to Virat'
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has advised Rohit Sharma to get back to Ranji Trophy to regain form in the longest format after failing in the ongoing series against South Africa.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be eager to break the sequence of reverses and get Rising Pune Supergiants' campaign back on track when they lock horns with in-form Kolkata Knight Riders.
South Africa lost both openers but were still 230 runs ahead of Bangladesh at the close on the third day of the first Test when bad light stopped play on Saturday.
Opener Kusal Perera stroked a fluent half-century before Sri Lanka's bowlers produced a brilliant display in the death overs to help their team pull off a thrilling five-run victory against South Africa.
South Africa will head to India armed with three frontline slow bowlers in their Test squad after recalling leg-spinner Imran Tahir and off-break bowler Dane Piedt for the four-match series starting in November.
Check out the Kolkata Knight Riders squad for IPL 2014.
Former captain Michael Vaughan feels Kevin Pietersen should not have been picked for England again after the 2012 text-gate scandal where he was accused of sending unsavoury messages about his skipper Andrew Strauss to the opposition team South Africa during course of a Test match.
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.
Virat Kohli is the lone Indian batsman to be figuring in the top-10 in the ICC Test batsmen rankings.
South African captain Graeme Smith is reportedly unhappy with Cricket South Africa's (CSA) announcement of player contracts as it has been difficult for some of the players to handle.
Paceman Vernon Philander became the fastest South African to take 100 Test wickets on Friday but India can claim the ascendancy at lunch on the third day of the first Test at the Wanderers.
South Africa moved cautiously on to 214 for five in reply to England's 458 at the close on the second day of the first Test helped by a gritty performance from Temba Bavuma at Lord's in London on Friday.
Philander was an important part of the Proteas pace troika, comprising Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, both of whom have retired from Tests.
No Indian cricketer figures in the ICC's World Cup XI, which is dominated by runners-up New Zealand rather than champions Australia.
South Africa claimed six wickets for 17 runs in a dramatic finish to snatch an unlikely one-run victory over Pakistan in their first one-day international at Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday.
Kolkata Knight Riders speedster Morne Morkel says one has to think on his feet to contain someone like AB de Villiers, considered the most dangerous batsman in contemporary cricket.
Dale Steyn became the second South African bowler to claim 400 Test wickets.
'I think if we had rattled one or two more in the morning, we threw everything at them today morning and with all due respect, they batted incredibly well. Maybe at a stage, 350 was on our mind, that we were possibly looking at. But then it just seemed to get a bit slower and it was definitely not reversing as much as it was yesterday'
Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar says South Africa will be a tough challenge for India in the upcoming Test series and marked out Proteas leg-spinner Imran Tahir as the one bowler to watch out for.
The Proteas bowlers took part in a thorough session under the watchful eyes of Langeveldt with the aim of increasing their workloads and mapping out expectations and game plans ahead of the 72-day tour which starts with the first Twenty20 match in Dharamsala on October 2.
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