England cricket chief David Collier has been forced to apologise to South Africa after accusing their players of provoking Kevin Pietersen in the text message row that led to the batsman being dropped.
South Africa are fired up to perform in the dead-rubber fourth Test against England and will 'play hard' as they try to salvage battered pride, young Proteas fast bowler Kagiso Rabada said on Tuesday. England have wrapped up the series as they take an unassailable 2-0 lead into the final Test starting in Pretoria on Friday, but the 20-year-old Rabada said the match was an opportunity for South Africa to rebuild. "There is another game to play and we have to look to the future," he told reporters. "We are trying to stay positive, there is another match and we are going to rock up and play hard. We are not going to throw in the towel, it's unlike us to do that."
Left-arm medium pacer Wayne Parnell, batsman Alviro Petersen, all-rounder Ryan McLaren and paceman Friedel de Wet were named in an expanded Test squad of 15 for the opener of their four-match series against England, Cricket South Africa announced on Wednesday.
'I've seen around 100 games and I've seen how the greatest people have finished the games and how do they change their game according to the game.'
'Ajinkya has 12 centuries and more than 4,000 runs in Test cricket. So he knows his game and he has gone through such kind of bad phases before as well.'
South African opener Hashim Amla sat out practice on Saturday after suffering concussion in the World Cup opener, and he is a doubt for South Africa's second game at the tournament against Bangladesh.
South Africa put one foot in the World Cup quarter-finals by batting past the 400-run mark for the second successive match to hand Ireland a thumping defeat by 201 runs with five overs to spare at Manuka Oval on Tuesday.
'This measure aims to manage workload and ensure peak performance for national duties.'
But players past and present, including India captain Virat Kohli, have been critical of the move.
Beyond the three host nations, the highest number of applications came from Germany, England, Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Argentina and Colombia.
Faf du Plessis said, "Now we can trust the system a little bit more and just focus on playing cricket."
England were 182 for 6 in their second innings at tea on the fourth day of the second Test, still needing 137 runs to make South Africa bat again.
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.
Under-fire South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis said his "hurting" team is trying to fight but is just not able to avoid mistakes in what is turning out to be a horror World Cup campaign.
Hashim Amla said on Wednesday he was stepping aside as South Africa's cricket Test captain with immediate effect, a day after a double century rescued his country from possible defeat in the second Test against England.
Former England captain Nasser Hussain slammed the International Cricket Council for its decision to exclude Bangladesh from the T20 World Cup for their refusal to play in India.
Shivam Dube's consistent and crucial contributions often went unnoticed during India's victorious T20 World Cup campaign, despite his significant impact on the team's success.
The Men in Blue have never beaten the Proteas in a World Cup game.
Former England captain Kevin Pietersen on Saturday rated Protea opener Aiden Markram's measured hundred against Australia in the World Test Championship final as the "best innings" by a South African batter in Test matches.
Quinton de Kock was a surprise pick for the South African summer, only because both he and director of cricket Graeme Smith have previously said the burden of captaincy across all three formats would be too much for the wicketkeeper.
Batting great Alistair Cook says England's 2-2 home series draw against Shubman Gill-led India was against "not a great Indian side", flagging concerns over the team's preparation for the Ashes.
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah earned his maiden call-up to the Test squad, while Parthiv Patel made a comeback for the three-Test series in South Africa.
Tournament co-hosts India will be out to defend their Twenty20 World Cup title in familiar home conditions next month.
Former India cricketer Madan Lal said that the Pakistan Cricket Board are not doing the right thing at the moment and will suffer the consequences, after Pakistan decided to boycott its group-stage match against India in the ICC World T20 World Cup, scheduled for February 15.
South Africa's two heaviest defeats have transpired when they fielded first and were accompanied by a lack of discipline as well as dropped chances.
India's long winning streak in Test cricket is under threat in a quick-fire three match series against South Africa this month, where their status as the top ranked nation in the format faces a stiff examination.
South African stand-in captain Aiden Markram said home side Pakistan were well within their rights to prepare extreme turning wickets for their two-Test series, which starts in Lahore on Sunday, as they did last year to beat England.
Australia, who are searching for their maiden T20 title, enter the tournament on the back of a horrific run, losing bilateral series to Bangladesh, West Indies, New Zealand, India and England.
Form and familiarity favour India in T20 World Cup
West Indies will look to maintain their winning form against a struggling Nepal side in their T20 World Cup Group C match at the Wankhede Stadium. West Indies have won both their matches so far, while Nepal are coming off a heavy defeat against Italy.
BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia has denied speculation that the Board has approached batting great V V S Laxman to take over as Team India's Test coach and replace Gautam Gambhir.
Vernon Philander is becoming the 'new Jacques Kallis', said South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis.
Seamers Kagiso Rabada and Wayne Parnell wreaked early havoc to set the platform for an easy South African victory in the third and final one-day International against England at Lords' on Monday.
The 30-year-old Holland played two Tests in Sri Lanka in 2016 but has not appeared for his country in any format since.
Earlier, South Africa England swung the bat to declare on 313-8 at tea on the fourth day, a taking huge lead of 491 runs.
New faces with big dreams. These players are set to step onto the T20 World Cup stage for the first time.
Left-arm spinner Liam Dawson returned to England Test set up after a gap of eight years, replacing injured Shoaib Bashir in the squad for the fourth Test against India.
England cricket team coach Andy Flower has accused South Africa of being too big for their boots.
South Africa are the World Test champions and skipper Temba Bavuma wants them to play like it and prove their credentials in the two-Test series against India beginning on Friday.
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