Pakistan outclassed South Africa by 19 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain-hit match in the ICC Champions Trophy match, in Birmingham, on Wednesday.
'The confidence and the momentum of that definitely helps. It just makes you raise your own bar of performance, you want to be a better player. My challenge to myself was to be a good player and now it's to become a great player. So it's just about lifting the bar and making a mind shift'
WBBL is likely to clash with India's month-long tour of the Caribbean
Rohit Sharma's unbeaten century and Yuzvendra Chahal's superb show with the ball along with Jasprit Bumrah's fiery spell helped India begin their World Cup campaign with a confident victory.
Opener Quinton de Kock smashed 84 as a weakened South Africa crushed Zimbabwe by seven wickets to complete a whitewash in their three-match ODI series at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo on Thursday.
Makhaya Ntini said he used to avoid travelling in the team bus and preferred running to the stadium to deal with the isolation.
Currently the number one ODI side, South Africa will hope to maintain status quo while Australia would be seeking a coup when the sides cross sword in the five-match ODI series starting in Durban later this week.
The Men in Blue have never beaten the Proteas in a World Cup game.
Speaking about Markram's form, Gibson said that that the 23-year-old has earlier shown what he is capable of but is currently batting out of his style.
Batting ace Sachin Tendulkar has injury concerns just a day before India names its team for the World Cup in Chennai on Monday. The batting ace was ruled out of the remainder of the ODI series against South Africa after injuring his right hamstring during his 24-run innings, off 44 balls, in the second ODI against the Proteas at the Wanderers on Saturday, which India won by one run to level the series 1-1.
India displace SA off perch to become No 1 team in ODIs
Former Protea batsman Herschelle Gibbs feels that the Indians should get out of the mental block of their past failure against short-pitched deliveries by being positive in their approach if they have to tackle the South African pace battery in the Test series beginning in Johannesburg on December 18.
Kohli is the only contemporary batsman who has an average of above 50 in all three formats of cricket.
South African pace spearhead Dale Steyn will not be playing next year's Indian Premier League (IPL). Steyn has ruled himself out of the lucrative T20 league in order to return to the Proteas side for their England tour - and possibly the ICC Champions Trophy. "June is realistic for South Africa," Steyn, who is currently recovering from an elbow injury was quoted as saying by Sport24. "I haven't had a long break like this in a good few years and every season I go into it with something wrong, whether it be a little hammie or whatever."
Australia were on Friday dethroned as the number one team in one-dayers by South Africa who demolished the hosts by 39 runs in the fifth and final match to clinch the ODI series with an emphatic 4-1 margin.
Swing bowler Vernon Philander sent a strong message to the South African one-day international selectors about his prowess in the 50-over game with a superb performance as the Proteas defeated Pakistan by four wickets in the final match of the series in Centurion on Saturday.
South Africa woefully struggled to get their act right in the matches gone by.
Kohli's decision didn't work as the spin duo failed to contain Proteas
Critical of the way Mahendra Singh Dhoni rotated Indian bowlers during the crushing loss to South Africa in the ODI series-decider, former skipper Sunil Gavaskar said the captain was just not flexible enough in his approach.
No symptoms in those not tested
Australia meet South Africa in a one-off T20 match on the Gold Coast on November 17, before three T20s against India starting in Brisbane on November 21.
Philander was an important part of the Proteas pace troika, comprising Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, both of whom have retired from Tests.
South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada said it is a team decision to not take the knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in their upcoming white-ball series against England.
Fourth-ranked South Africa will aim to climb up to second position in the International Cricket Council One day International Team Rankings when they host world champions Australia in the five-match series from September 30.
Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin shared his reaction and also had a message for Kohli.
India vice-captain Virat Kohli dismissed South Africa pacer Dale Steyn's notion that he and his team-mates were 'frightened' of the Proteas' attack, saying they were good enough to tackle the host pace battery.
The South African Cricket team that is locked in the on-going ODI series against India, was quick to put out statements to give tribute to South Africa's favourite son Nelson Mandela.
Realising that just two Tests in the next 11 months endanger India's stay at the top of ICC rankings, the BCCI has requested South Africa to play a couple of five-day games when they visit the country early next year.
A disappointed Michael Clarke arrived home from United Arab Emirates on Wednesday eager to shake off Australia's Test series loss to Pakistan and begin his side's World Cup buildup in a one-day series against South Africa.
South African pace bowling great Shaun Pollock criticised India's misplaced priorities and approach to the Test series against the Proteas, saying the team's lack of preparation stood out despite a historic ODI triumph.
Cricket Australia still in the dark over Australia vs India day-night Test
AB de Villiers could do anything and everything. If he defied gravity on field, with a bat in hand the laws of physics bent to his wishes.
Pakistan's wily spinners gave a masterclass in slow bowling to bamboozle South Africa's batting line-up and lead their side to a 66-run victory in the second one-day international in the United Arab Emirates on Friday.
He missed the ODI series against Sri Lanka earlier this year, with Aiden Markram taking his place as an opener alongside vice-captain Quinton de Kock in the series.
The Proteas' performance in the recent series against Pakistan in Dubai augured well for the 2015 World Cup but their real test will be the upcoming home series against India, according to former captain Kepler Wessels.
Former South African skipper Graeme Smith, who appeared in the recently-concluded Masters Champions League ( MCL) in Dubai, has ruled out the possibility of his comeback to the international cricket. Earlier, the 35-year-old, who retired from all formats of the game in 2014, had hinted that he was considering a comeback into the national side. But, the former opening batsman recently quashed such speculations, saying that playing for South Africa was not on the cards, Sport24 reported. Smith, who recently turned down the job of South Africa's batting consultant, had represented his country in 117 Tests, 197 ODIs and 33 T20Is in his glorious international career.
For Africa's Test-playing nations, administrative turmoil has defined the dying days of the 2010s.
New Zealand will host their first day-night Test when England tour the country in early 2018, pending final approval from both teams.
Australian batting sensation David Warner is all set to make his one-day debut in the second ODI against South Africa at Hobart on Sunday after being picked to replace Micheal Clarke, who was ruled out of the remainder of the five-match series due to a thumb injury. Warner, who smashed a blistering 89 off just 43 balls in the opening Twenty20 international against the Proteas at the MCG earlier this month, will get his chance to stake a claim after missing the first ODI.
Former South Africa pacer Henry Williams has revealed that he and Herschelle Gibbs gave false testimonies to the Kings Commission against Hansie Cronje in the match-fixing saga over a decade ago, to make a stronger case against the late Proteas captain.
