Having already secured a place in the semi-finals, England will be hoping to acquire some quality workout time for their batters in their last league match against a beleaguered and rain-tormented New Zealand in the women's World match Cup, in Visakhapatnam, on Sunday.
The Men in Blue have never beaten the Proteas in a World Cup game.
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.
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.
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.
Vernon Philander is becoming the 'new Jacques Kallis', said South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis.
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.
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.
England cricket team coach Andy Flower has accused South Africa of being too big for their boots.
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.
South Africa's stunning three-day win over India at Eden Gardens has drawn reactions from some of cricket's biggest names, with AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis and Dale Steyn celebrating the historic result while Kevin Pietersen used the collapse-filled Test to launch a scathing critique of modern batting.
England replace Shoaib Bashir with Liam Dawson in playing XI for 4th Test against India
Shubman Gill has described his appointment as India's ODI captain as the "biggest honour", expressing pride in carrying forward the legacy left by Rohit Sharma, who will play under him in the upcoming three-match series in Australia.
Sourav Ganguly believes India's biggest selection dilemma ahead of the upcoming Test series against South Africa could centre around one man - Dhruv Jurel.
Captain Hashim Amla has said South Africa were suffering a crisis of confidence following a woeful 2015 which culminated with a 241-run defeat to England in the first Test.
West Indies beat South Africa by three wickets in a low-scoring thriller in their World Twenty20 Super 10 match on Friday to join New Zealand in the semi-finals. The West Indian attack responded brilliantly to captain Darren Sammy's decision to bowl first on a slow pitch offering help as they restricted South Africa to 122 for eight. The 2012 champions looked comfortable for most of their run chase but leg-spinner Imran Tahir struck twice in consecutive deliveries in his last over to haul his side back into the game.
'We are absolutely delighted that England and Wales has been chosen to host the next three ICC World Test Championship Finals.'
Mandhana led the Indian charge at the top, and her partnerships with opening batter Pratika Rawal created quite a buzz in the showpiece event.
Ganguly lauded Gill's leadership during India's tour of England, noting the challenge of captaining at a young age in such conditions
Joe Root blasted a 44-ball 83 to help England pull off a record run chase in a thrilling last-over finish against South Africa in the ICC World T20 Super 10 Group 1 match at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, on Friday.
England-born Richard Pybus has been appointed as the head coach of the Afghanistan cricket team, replacing Jonathan Trott.
'Hopefully, not too far in the future, but more in the near future, we'll go back to play four Tests against India'
This is the most open T20 World Cup in history. The traditional powers are compromised. The new powers have gained strength, observes Faisal Shariff.
England have not won the Ashes in Australia after losing the first Test since the 1950s but McCullum and Stokes will remain convinced they can turn the series around, just as they did against South Africa in 2022 when they won 2-1 after losing the opener at Lord's.
South Africa coach Mark Boucher said winning his first Test match in charge was as good as the many victories he enjoyed as a player after his maiden triumph against England on Sunday. The 107-run victory in the first Test at Centurion Park came a fortnight after Boucher, 43, was appointed to the post after a shake-up of Cricket South Africa's structures at the start of the month.
Former skipper Graeme Smith on Friday dropped in at South Africa's training session, continuing an interesting trend of ex-captains visiting their teams with bagful of wisdom ahead of matches against India.
England spinner Graeme Swann will be rested for the remaining one-day internationals against South Africa, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Wednesday.
Graeme Smith plundered a fighting 154 not out to lead his South Africa team to a five-wicket victory over England that clinched the Test series at Edgbaston on Saturday.
Slow left-armer Robin Peterson received a call-up on Friday when South Africa named two spinners in their squad for next month's Champions Trophy in Pakistan. Peterson will replace batsman Hashim Amla in the squad that is now preparing for the limited-overs section of their tour of England. South Africa won the Test series 2-1.
Menon to officiate in his fourth T20WC, Padmanabhan to make his debut
India will be desperate for a quality replacement for the crucial No. 4 slot with Shubman Gill likely to be ruled out for the must-win second and final Test against South Africa.
Smriti Mandhana retains her top position in the latest women's ODI batting rankings, while New Zealand players make significant gains after strong performances against Zimbabwe.
Former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes said that Team India does not need to prepare turning wickets as they can bowl out their opponents with their pace line-up and having another spin-friendly wicket for the second Test against South Africa will be a "big test of their ability".
Australia pulled out of the three-Test tour slated for March-April citing an "unacceptable level of health and safety risk to players, support staff and the community".
Bazball is in the firing line, with former players and pundits decrying the high-risk game on Australia's spicy pitches.
Marco Jansen smashed the records held by legends Matthew Hayden and Vivian Richards for the most sixes hit by an overseas batter in a Test innings in India.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances