South Africa will look to fix their chasing troubles before the semifinals while Afghanistan will back themselves to beat another top team
Graeme Smith returns to England to play what is his 100th Test match -- at The Oval. He still captains the South African side and besides his personal milestone also has a major agenda this time around. A win over England in the ongoing Test series will make South Africa the No.1 Test side in the world.
South Africa's power-packed batting unit suffered a light-out against Australia, but they found enough support from the packed Eden Gardens crowd during the second semifinal of the World Cup in Kolkata on Thursday.
South Africa cricket coach Gary Kirsten, who guided India to the ODI World Cup triumph and the number one Test ranking while in charge of Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men, feels the Proteas can be the most dominant team internationally.
After electing to bat first, South Africa were bowled out for 98 in the 17th over, with spin trio Lakshan Sandakan, Dhananjaya de Silva and Akila Dananjaya combining to take seven wickets.
Let's take a look at the standout performers in the bowling department:
The South Africa series in that context is the last big international T20 series that India play followed by one against Afghanistan in mid-January.
Musheer Khan, Uday Saharan, Sachin Dhas, Saumy Pandey named in U19 World Cup Team of the Tournament
Commanding wins in their two opening games have elevated South Africa as favourites in the World Cup but pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada insisted there is still a long way to go and the team is focused on taking one match at a time.
The leg-spinner is first South African to claim seven wickets in an ODI and became the fastest Proteas bowler to reach 100 ODI wickets in 58 matches -- the fourth quickest overall.
In the ODI rankings, Sri Lanka's two ODI matches at home against Zimbabwe =saw a number of movers, most notably on the bowling side through spinner Maheesh Theekshana, who moved to a career high rating (634) and rank (11th) with four wickets across the matches.
Rassie van der Dussen conceded that South Africa needs to improve chasing runs after Afghanistan's bowlers made things difficult for them in the middle overs in their World Cup match in Ahmedabad on Friday.
Pace bowlers Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn claimed four wickets apiece to help dismiss England for 203 on the first day of the second Test at Headingley on Friday. Morkel took four for 52 and Steyn four for 76 before the home team hit back in the final session to reduce the Proteas to 101 for three at the close.
A day after India announced their squad for the all-important tour of South Africa, former spinner Harbhajan Singh on Friday questioned Yuzvendra Chahal's selection for the tour, and said that they gave him a "lollypop to suck on."
'If the ground remains uncovered and the rain stops, you know it doesn't start for another one hour. Suddenly it rains again. So there's no play whatsoever.'
Images from the World Cup 2023 match between Australia and South Africa.
'I have been playing for UP since 2013 at No. 5 or 6. So, I have got used to that position. I keep backing myself to play in that position because it is very tough to play in that position if 4-5 wickets are down.'
Images from the ICC World Cup match between Afghanistan vs South Africa, in Ahmedabad, on Friday.
South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad slammed the Newlands pitch as 'not great'.
Images from Day 3 in the first Test between South Africa and India, at SuperSports Park, Centurion, on Thursday.
It means there are two players from India inside the top 10 for fielding ratings, with Australia the only other side to have Warner (third) and Glenn Maxwell (eighth) among the top 10.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson fractured his thumb during a match against Bangladesh.
'It's a nice feeling to hear 'Ram Siya Ram' in the background'
Outgoing South African captain Graeme Smith feels the immediate future of the team is bleak in the wake of its shock World Cup ouster and a lot of work lay ahead for the new skipper and coach.
Jacques Rudolph was surprisingly recalled by South Africa when he was included in its preliminary squad for next year's World Cup.
South Africa's batting great AB de Villiers is clearly disappointed that the ever-growing popularity of T20 Cricket is putting Test cricket 'under pressure'.
Markram and Shamsi's middle-over spells became turning point, feels Tilak Varma
South Africa's premier left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj is confident that slow bowlers will play a vital role on flat decks expected to be on offer during the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup in the Americas in June.
Young leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha has been cut along with fast bowler Nathan Ellis and rookie all-rounder Aaron Hardie.
South Africa should have been more clinical in the run-chase against Pakistan during the World Cup match in Chennai on Friday, said skipper Temba Bavuma, adding they were lucky to escape by the skin of their teeth.
De Zorzi ton guides South Africa to eight-wicket win over India
Bangladesh collapsed to 34 for five as the home seamers got exaggerated bounce out of the surface and caught the edge with regularity.
Australian team will be aiming to put up a much better batting performance with a rejigged playing eleven against an upbeat South Africa
'There is not much we can do as players, but there is that disparity in the number of games. We have to find a way mentally to meet the challenge.'
Suryakumar strengthens top position in ICC T20 batter rankings
'His experience is immense. In our batting chat today (Friday), we basically listened to him. He gave the batting chat as to what the conditions are like, what to expect.'
England have been largely rusty and inconsistent despite having a dangerous squad on paper.
Disillusioned with the 'politics' in South African cricket administration, Brian McMillan decided to stay away from the game.
'As long as the guys understand the way that we want to try play as a team and can keep that close to them when playing in different leagues and tournaments. Then hopefully by the time we meet up for the World Cup, the guys are used to that brand and how we want to operate as a team.'
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