Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada and wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock have achieved career-high positions in the latest ICC Test Player Rankings after firing South Africa to an emphatic 177-run victory over Australia in the opening Test of the three-match series in Perth on Monday.
Less than three months ago, Aaron Finch, alarmingly down on form and confidence, actually feared he might not be chosen for the Australian squad that he was due to lead. Now, he's atop the scoring charts at the World Cup.
Australia's pace spearhead Mitchell Starc is confident he will be fit to take on South Africa in next month's first test after declaring himself available for a domestic Sheffield Shield match on Thursday.
Some of the big moments of the sporting world from 2010-2019!
Australia will be forced to blood an entirely new opening partnership in Bangladesh next month after David Warner was ruled out of the two-Test series with a broken finger on Friday.
Virat the batsman wins, Virat the captain loses
David Warner and Glenn Maxwell shared the fourth highest partnership in the history of T20 International cricket to set Australia up for a last-ball, five-wicket victory over South Africa in the second T20 International at the Wanderers Stadium on Sunday. The series is now locked 1-1 ahead of the decider in Cape Town on Wednesday. Warner (77 off 40 balls, 6 fours and 5 sixes) and Maxwell (75 off 43 balls, 7 fours and 3 sixes) shared a partnership of 161 which was Australia's highest ever and also the highest ever for the fourth wicket and the highest for any wicket at the Wanderers.
Indian star Anirban Lahiri birdied three of his last five holes to maintain a tight grip in the weather-disrupted Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters on Friday.
Not impressed by Australia's dominance in the summer of 2015 with Test wins against New Zealand and a lackluster West Indies, former pacer Geoff Lawson believes that India will make "tougher opponents" in the upcoming ODI series starting January 12.
ujarat Lions face the challenging task of gathering themselves and bounce back when they square off against the consistent Kolkata Knight Riders.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer continued his dream start as Manchester United caretaker manager with a 3-1 Premier League win over Huddersfield on his Old Trafford debut in the dugout on Wednesday.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field
'England against Australia at Lord's, it doesn't get much bigger than that.'
Manchester United's troubled season hit a new low on Saturday as Jose Mourinho saw his gamble on introducing a new tactical system backfire with an insipid 3-1 defeat to West Ham United in the Premier League.
The off-spinner dismissed Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews with the final ball of his eighth over and returned to send back Nuwan Kulasekara and Tharindu Kaushal with the first two deliveries of his next to achieve the milestone in the first quarter-final of the World Cup.
Shane Watson's spectacular decline as Australia's premier all-rounder has not yet robbed him of his self-belief and the 33-year-old is still hopeful of making a comeback in the World Cup team.
The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) called for a government inquiry into racism in the English game following the match, which Chelsea won 2-0.
Australian batsman George Bailey has claimed that his side's World Cup squad has played consistently since the past 12 or 18 months, despite injuries, inexperience and the pressure of a home tournament bearing down on them.
Former Australia cricketer Brad Hodge called Jasprit Bumrah 'a nightmare to face' in an enormous compliment but picked Cheteshwar Pujara's runs at number three as the vital difference between the two sides.
Images from the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg matches played on Wednesday
Virtually assured of a berth in the playoffs, Chennai Super Kings will aim to tighten their grip on the No 1 position in the points' table when they take on out-of-contention Delhi Daredevils in Tuesday's IPL match in Raipur.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to outgun title-contenders, Gujarat Lions in a must-win Indian Premier League clash.
Sri Lanka coach Mickey Arthur believes that international cricket teams can learn from India on how to nurture young players and empower them with responsibilities at critical junctures. Be it in the bowling or batting department, cricketing powerhouse India has built a solid bench strength for all formats under Virat Kohli's leadership, which has left Arthur impressed.
Liverpool made it three wins out of three as Mohamed Salah scored twice in a convincing 3-1 victory over Arsenal on Saturday to take control at the top of the Premier League.
Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland rejected clarion calls for a formal review and said the game is in "good shape" despite the Test team's fifth successive defeat.
The visitors got off to the perfect start when a mix up at the back saw Riyad Mahrez square for Jamie Vardy to tap into an open goal in front of the Kop in the third minute. Liverpool looked for an immediate riposte, but Salah missed two gilt-edged opportunities before Sadio Mane saw an effort disallowed for offside as Juergen Klopp's men grew frustrated.
Paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile took four wickets to fire Australia to a 32-run victory over South Africa in the first one-day international in Perth on Friday.
A quick look at the winners.
Virat wouldn't have got 700 runs and smashed four centuries in Tests in Australia, says Ravi Shastri.
Usain Bolt of Jamaica won the men's 200 meters gold for the third successive Summer Games on Thursday, crossing the line in 19.78 seconds at the Rio Olympic stadium.
Timing is everything in the cut-throat world of international cricket and Australian captain Michael Clarke knew the game was up for him.
A bipartisan group of US lawmakers has written to House Speaker Paul Ryan, asking him to raise the issue of religious freedom in India during his meeting with PM Modi.
Australia have named Michael Clarke in a 12-man squad for the first Test against India starting in Brisbane next week, but the hamstrung captain must prove his fitness in a tour match starting on Friday.
There was general consensus in Australia on Wednesday that retaining the Ashes this year got a little bit harder after the appointment of wily compatriot Trevor Bayliss as England's new head coach.
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.
In a three part series, Rajneesh Gupta highlights all the important numbers from cricket World Cups held between 1975 to 2015.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Aseem Chhabra lists his 10 favourite non-Indian shows streaming in India -- classics as well as recent shows.
India's reluctance to accept the Decision Review System in its current form has cost them what would have been a crucial, match-changing wicket in their loss to Australia at the WACA Ground on Tuesday. The home side were in trouble at 2-21 in the fifth over chasing 310 for victory when debutant quick Barinder Sran and India's fielders appealed for a leg-side catch from George Bailey's first ball. A muted appeal from captain and wicketkeeper MS Dhoni may have contributed to the not out decision from umpire Richard Kettleborough, but replays showed a clear deflection from Bailey's glove.
The Australian media were united in their view that the Mitchell Johnson-inspired humiliation of England at Lord's marked a decisive shift in the balance of power in the Ashes series.
