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.
Women cricketers Sara McGlashan and Sarah Taylor were also handed the honour.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
'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'
Dale Steyn became the second South African bowler to claim 400 Test wickets.
Philander was an important part of the Proteas pace troika, comprising Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, both of whom have retired from Tests.
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.
'As Test team, we stand in a good position. Whole credit goes to Virat'
South Africa have retained the same 15-man squad that saved the series with Pakistan in October for their two home Tests against India later this month.
Cheteshwar Pujara scored a sparkling unbeaten 135 as India took a stranglehold over South Africa in the first Test in Johannesburg on Friday. The top-order displayed remarkable application on Day 3, as the tourists, after dismissing the hosts for 244 in the first innings, swelled their overall lead to 320.
Indian pacer Ishant Sharma, English batting star Kevin Pietersen and South African speedster Dale Steyn were among the biggest names to be released by their respective franchises ahead of the Indian Premier League's 10th edition next year. As many as 140 cricketers, including 44 overseas players, have been retained, while 63 were let go by the eight franchises for season 10.
While wicket-keeper-batsman Klaasen recently notched 69 runs from 30 balls in South Africa's six-wicket win over India in the 2nd T20I, 20-year-old Mulder has played a single ODI against Bangladesh at East London in October 2017.
Rabada, the number one ranked Test bowler, could still play if he succeeds in his appeal against an International Cricket Council (ICC) decision to award him three demerit points for his reaction to dismissing Steve Smith in the second Test.
South Africa captain Faf Du Plessis admitted that it is normal to get distracted by the weekend's Indian Premier League auctions as the cash-rich T20 event 'plays a big part in their lives'.
South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis described Kagiso Rabada's performance as "phenomenal" after the young paceman helped turn a parlous situation on day two of the first Test against Australia into a thumping 177-run victory on Monday. The tourists had done well to get to 242 all out after being 5-81 on day one but were looking down the barrel of a heavy defeat when Australia raced to 158 without loss on day two. Matters got worse when, having finally broken the opening partnership, South Africa's pace spearhead Dale Steyn was forced off the field with a shoulder fracture that ruled him out of the series.
Virender Sehwag reckons that India now only have around '30 per cent chance' of making a comeback in the three-Test series against South Africa after losing the opening encounter by 72 runs.
Vernon Philander took five wickets as South Africa closed in on victory having reduced West Indies to 76 for two in their follow-on innings at the close of play on day three of the opening Test on Friday.
Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Delhi Daredevils by six wickets in their Indian Premier League match at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) has named Dean Elgar in the list of its contracted players, in place of the retired Test captain Graeme Smith.
South Africa fast bowling great Allan Donald will join Australia as bowling coach for their tour of Sri Lanka this year, local media reported on Wednesday.
South Africa paceman Kagiso Rabada bagged another five-wicket haul to take his Test match tally past 100 as his side wrapped up a comprehensive innings and 254-run victory over Bangladesh in Bloemfontein on Sunday.
South Africa have recalled fast bowler Kyle Abbott for the second Test against India in his home town of Durban starting on Boxing Day (December 26).
A resurgent Delhi Daredevils squad will look to continue with their winning momentum when they take on defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders in the team's fifth match of the Indian Premier League T20 cricket tournament at the Feroz Shah Kotla, in Delhi on Monday.
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.
AB de Villiers has been ruled out of South Africa's two-test home series against New Zealand this month with an injured elbow and Faf du Plessis will take over the captaincy.
Toby Roland-Jones saw his dream debut continue as he completed a five-wicket haul to end South Africa's belated resistance and ensure England maintained their domination of the third Test at The Oval on Saturday.
Seamer Vernon Philander took career-best figures as rampant South Africa claimed a 72-run victory over India in a gripping first Test at Newlands on Monday.
Mercurial paceman Kagiso Rabada produced the second best match figures by a South African to propel his side to a consolation 280-run victory over a feeble England on the last morning of the fourth and final Test.
