After the gruelling league phase of the ongoing IPL, the stage is set for the play-offs with CSK and MI clashing against each other for a place in May 12 final.
Opener Fakhar Zaman smashed his second century in as many matches as Pakistan beat a much-changed South Africa by 28 runs in the third and final One-Day International, in Pretoria on Wednesday, to clinch the series 2-1.
Hardik and Pollard added 41 runs for the fourth wicket. The younger Pandya scored 28 runs off 19 balls. The elder Pandya scored 20* off four balls while Pollard remained unbeaten on 25 runs.
A battle royale is in the offing as heavyweights Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals clash in a high-profile IPL encounter, in Chennai, on Tuesday.
Getting the combination right would be topmost on Sunrisers Hyderabad's to-do list when they take on a qualitatively superior Mumbai Indians in an IPL encounter in Chennai on Saturday, trying to arrest an early slide after back-to-back defeats.
The IPL franchises are now expanding their bouquet of teams across leagues in the West Indies, UAE, South Africa and now the US is another untapped market that wasn't explored despite the Asian diaspora craving for some cricket.
The paceman had injury problems in the recent ICC Champions Trophy in England, forcing him to miss the semi-final defeat by the hosts, and that has weighed heavily on the minds of the selectors with Test series coming up against Pakistan, India and Australia.
Royal Challengers Bangalore head coach Daniel Vettori said their star player AB de Villiers is fit for Saturday's Indian Premier League match against Chennai Super Kings.
South Africa's Imran Tahir became the first spinner to bowl the first over in a World Cup match on Thursday.
Lungi Ngidi took 3 for 9 in his final two overs, which was instrumental in restricting Mumbai Indians to 162/9 in their 20 overs.
Rajasthan Royals inched closer to securing a play-offs berth with a convincing 24-run win over LSG in Mumbai.
West Indies great Brian Lara believes that a batsman of Suryakumar Yadav's calibre should have been in the Indian white-ball squad for the tour of Australia.
The gifted Ruturaj Gaikwad showed his class with a splendid half-century to power Chennai Super Kings to the top of the IPL standings after they beat champions Mumbai Indians by 20 runs, in Dubai, on Sunday.
South Africa will need their bowlers to step up to keep their World Cup hopes alive.
South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma says the upcoming T20I series against India will be an opportunity for him to identify players for specific roles for the T20 World Cup, which will be held in Australia later this year.
Uncapped spinners Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi were named in South Africa's squad for next month's three-match test series in Australia on Monday as the Proteas seek to exploit a perceived weaknesses in their hosts' batting. Faf du Plessis will again captain the team in the absence of injured AB de Villiers after leading the side in the two-test series against New Zealand last month, which they won 1-0. "Basically, we are following a horses for courses policy as we feel that spinners who turn the ball away from the right-hander are going to be particularly useful under Australian conditions and against the test batsmen we are likely to face," selector Linda Zondi said in a statement.
Strangely, Gill's innings resembled something off a One Day International scorecard rather than a T20 considering its steady pacing, patience and sheer resolve.
New Zealand paceman Southee ruled out; Proteas 'keeper De Kock doubtful starter
Van der Dussen scored 75 off 46 balls as South Africa chased down a target of 212 in a canter in the first T20I against India.
Rohit's dismissal on 39 off 31 balls marked the moment where the Mumbai run chase lost its momentum as boundaries dried up and runs became harder to come by.
CSK would be looking to continue the momentum.
Images from Tuesday's IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders, in Chennai.
Rohit Sharma is likely to miss his third game in a row when Mumbai Indians take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday with both teams aiming to secure their spot in the IPL play-offs.
Rajneesh Gupta lists the South African players's T20 Internationals records updated after the game against Bangladesh.
Table-toppers Mumbai Indians are on course to make it to the play-offs but the game is crucial for Rajasthan, who are languishing in seventh place. Defeat would mean a step closer to elimination.
South Africa need seven more wickets to win the third Test at the Wanderers and sweep the series after Pakistan were 153 for three wickets at the close of play on Sunday, still 228 runs short of a daunting winning target.
RCB captain Virat Kohli's wife Anushka Sharma and Kings XI co-owner Preity Zinta basked in the spotlight.
In the event of Narine missing out again, Mumbai will fancy their chances even more at the Sheikh Zayed stadium, where skipper Rohit Sharma has scored both his half-centuries this season.
Janneman Malan, who was out to the first ball of the match on debut on Saturday, anchored the South African reply, taming his usual swashbuckling style to score 129 not out from 139 balls and lead the home side to victory with nine balls to spare.
Images from the IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings, in Chennai, on Friday.
Rajasthan Royals may need to rejig their Indian line-up slightly when they try to pull their IPL campaign out of the current rot against a supremely confident Mumbai Indians,
Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult stifled the Rajasthan Royals batting line-up in the final overs to play a crucial role in Mumbai Indians' comfortable seven-wicket victory on Thursday.
India's Under-19 star Rishabh Pant struck a brilliant half-century to power Delhi Daredevils to a comprehensive eight-wicket victory over Gujarat Lions at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot, on Tuesday.
Images from Day 3 of the third Test between India and South Africa, in Ranchi, on Monday.
Mumbai Indians' young batsman Ishan Kishan said support from India captain Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard helped him get back among the runs after he had lost his place in the playing XI.
Drafted into the team for the first time in the ongoing cricket World Cup, Pakistan wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed made an instant impact with a record-equalling six catches and 49 runs in the team's upset win over South Africa in Auckland.
South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn will miss the second Test against England, which starts at Newlands on Saturday, after failing to recover from a shoulder injury, captain Hashim Amla said.
Medium pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile bowled economically before Kieron Pollard struck twice with the big wickets of Chris Gayle and K L Rahul to get his 300th IPL wicket and dent the Punjab batting.
'It is a huge day for cricket in Ireland. We will have a couple of beers and enjoy this, but at the same time we have to look to Friday, when we could potentially win a series.'
IMAGES from the 1st T20I played between India and South Africa in New Delhi on Thursday.
