Hashim Amla plundered yet another century to lead South Africa to a commanding 325 for four on the first day of the second and final Test against New Zealand at St George's Park on Friday.
India's Virat Kohli slipped a rung but is still the best-placed Indian batsman in third position in the latest the International Cricket Council One-Day batsmen's rankings released on Tuesday.
British Open champion Ernie Els said he was inspired by watching South Africa's cricketers turn the screw on England in the first Test before going out to win his fourth major title on Sunday.
Hashim Amla put South Africa on the threshold of victory over England in the first Test with an unbeaten 311, the highest score by a South African in Test cricket, as the Proteas declared on 637-2 in their first innings. England lost four wickets before the close.
The killing on June 22 had triggered a nationwide outrage.
Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis put on an unbeaten stand of 143 to help South Africa to an 18-run lead over England on day three of the first Test at The Oval on Saturday.
South Africa fought back against England on the second day of the first Test on Friday, first with the ball and then the bat, to close on 86 for one after bowling England out for 385. Captain Graeme Smith, playing his 100th Test match, was 37 not out and Hashim Amla was on 47 after being dropped on 40 by first slip Andrew Strauss off Ravi Bopara.
Hashim Amla's composed century helped South Africa to within a sniff of reclaiming the One-day top ranking after they beat New Zealand by 72 runs to wrap up their three-match series with a game to spare on Friday.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who claimed five for 32 in South Africa's paltry first innings of 79, says the home side needs to be patient on Day 3 as things will be different in the second innings. Harish Kotian reports from Nagpur.
Defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad will start favourites when they take on the struggling-for-survival Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League match, in Mohali, on Thursday.
Eighteen wickets fell on the second day, the most at this ground since 1914
Hashim Amla scored 196 and AB de Villiers 169 in a batting exhibition that drove South Africa to a commanding lead of 631 runs before they were dismissed for 569 on the third day of the third Test against Australia on Sunday.
South Africa, fired by a devastating spell of bowling from Dale Steyn and sustained by the batting of Hashim Amla, took a firm grip on the third and final Test against Australia on Saturday to end day two with an imposing lead of 292.
Junaid was my son. He was son and brother also to the people on the train compartment of his last journey. He was son or brother also of those at the railway station where he breathed his last breath. This moving excerpt from Harsh Mander's Partitions Of The Heart: Unmaking The Idea Of India reveals why we must immediately end the hatred surging across north India before it consumes us all.
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.
Mumbai pacer Shardul Thakur pushed South Africa to the backfoot before the classy AB de Villiers rallied the tourists with a typically aggressive century on the second and last day of the practice game against Board President's XI which ended in a draw, in Mumbai, on Saturday.
South Africa wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock has been fined 75 per cent of his match fee for nudging Bangladesh opening batsman Tamim Iqbal.
With the South African team keen to shrug-off the chokers tag, opening batsman Hashim Amla has said the experienced campaigners in the squad will need to step up their performance when they take on Sri Lanka in the World Cup quarter-finals at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday.
India's swing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar on Tuesday jumped eight places to a career-best 22 following his impressive show in a lost cause in the first Test against South Africa but Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara slipped in the ICC ranking ladder.
India have accumulated 122 points on the back of series wins over Australia and New Zealand and are placed behind England.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who is a member of the Marylebone Cricket Club World Cricket Committee, will skip its upcoming meeting at Lord's on August 11-12.
Indian batsman Ajinkya Rahane jumped three places to enter the top-10 in batsman's list while Ravichandran Ashwin maintained his pole position among all-rounders in the latest Test rankings released by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Five cricketers, including India's World Cup winning skipper M S Dhoni, were on Thursday shortlisted for the second edition of ICC's 'People's Choice Awards'.
Star pacer Dale Steyn feels he is fortunate to be part of a strong South African side, which has enabled him to produce his best in the past few years.
Half-centuries from Hashim Amla and JP Duminy helped South Africa secure a five-wicket win in the second one-day international against Sri Lanka on Saturday.
In a three part series, Rajneesh Gupta highlights all the important numbers from cricket World Cups held between 1975 to 2015.
South Africa batsman Hashim Amla has had emergency surgery after he was hit in the groin with the ball on the opening day of the third Test against New Zealand, the team said on Saturday.
South Africa's batsmen made a mockery of supposedly helpful bowling conditions to finish the weather-affected first day of the third and final Test against New Zealand on 136 for two.
Vernon Philander bagged six wickets, for a match haul of ten, as South Africa wrapped up a nine-wicket victory that gives them a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
England batsmen Jonathan Trott and Alastair Cook expressed happiness on winning the Cricketer of the Year and Test Cricketer of the Year awards respectively, at the annual ICC awards ceremony held in London earlier this week.
Kallis had earlier said that not entering the tournament as favourites could work in South Africa's favour.
South Africa opener Quinton de Kock's attacking 87 set up a four-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second one-day international in Dambulla on Wednesday, handing the tourists a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
Paceman Marchant de Lange picked up four wickets on his One-day International debut as South Africa completed a 3-0 clean sweep against New Zealand with a five-wicket victory in the third and final ODI in Auckland on Saturday.
Hashim Amla missed out on a 10th century but still guided South Africa to a comfortable six-wicket victory over New Zealand in their second one-day international in Napier on Wednesday, sealing the series with a game to spare.
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.
South Africa's top-order batsman Hashim Amla was named the country's 'Sports Star of the Year' at an awards function at Sun City on Sunday. The 28-year-old batsman, who was recently appointed vice-captain of the Proteas ODI and T20 teams, pipped four other nominees -- Masters golf champion Charl Schwartzel, swimming world record holder Cameron van der Burgh, Springbok sevens flyhalf Cecil Afrika and leading Banyana Banyana goal-scorer Noko Matlou -- for the top accolade.
Virat Kohli became only the fifth player overall to score a century in One-Day Internationals against all nine Test playing nations. Ricky Ponting, Herschelle Gibbs, Sachin Tendulkar and Hashim Amla are the other players to achieved the feat. Rajneesh Gupta presents the interesting numbers from the fourth ODI between India and South Africa in Chennai, on Thursday.
Graeme Smith hoped his captain's knock that led South Africa to a spectacular victory in the first Test would finally silence his critics while his Australian counterpart Michael Clarke lambasted his team for an abysmal performance with bat and ball.
Captain Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla led South Africa to a remarkable comeback, eight-wicket victory over Australia in the first Test at Newlands on Friday. Chasing 236 for victory, after a bizarre second day in which 23 wickets fell and parts of all four innings took place, Smith (101 not out) and Amla (112) put on 195 for the second wicket to stun Australia.
Virat Kohli was the highest-placed batsman at third followed by Mahendra Singh Dhoni at fifth but there was no Indian in the bowling top-10 of the latest ICC One-day rankings issued on Saturday.
