It will be a battle of survival for the two national captains as Virat Kohli's struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore square off against a fledgling Pune Supergiants led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni in an IPL encounter for the bottom-rung teams in Bengaluru on Saturday. With five defeats in seven games, RCB are currently placed at a lowly seventh spot in the table with four points while Pune are just a notch above in sixth spot courtesy their third win against Delhi Daredevils, on Thursday. It has been a tough journey for the two superstars of Indian cricket as their franchises have dished one disappointing performance after another. RCB with perhaps the most intimidating batting line-ups has had to taste defeat because of a pedestrian bowling attack that has failed to defend 180 plus scores in most of the matches.
'We had a Plan A and B and C as well - it didn't click.'
Sri Lanka need to win their final two games, and hope for favourable outcomes in England and Pakistan's next fixtures.
Openers Martin Guptill and Colin Munro hit unbeaten half-centuries as New Zealand thrashed Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in their World Cup opener in Cardiff on Saturday.
The 19-year-old wonder spinner has gained 54 points to finish with 813 points, 80 more than second-placed Shadab Khan of Pakistan.
Kumar Sangakkara celebrated his 350th one day international appearance with a career-best 169 on Saturday as Sri Lanka crushed South Africa by 180 runs at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Joe Root's third hundred powered England to a five-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the fifth One-day international in Pallekele on Thursday and kept alive their hopes in the seven-match series. After rain forced play to be suspended on Wednesday, the visitors returned to chase down a 240-run victory target and won with five balls to spare.
Ajinkya Rahane steered Rising Pune Supergiants home with an unbeaten half-century as the visitors outclassed Delhi Daredevils by seven wickets to keep their hopes alive, in the Indian Premier League in Delhi, on Thursday.
After launching their campaign on a winning note, IPL finalists Kings XI Punjab will look to dish out another dominating performance when they face the formidable Barbados Tridents in a Group B match of the Oppo Champions League twenty20 in Mohali on Saturday.
Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by six wickets to go 1-0 up in the five-match series.
India have surged to the second spot in the ICC's latest T20I rankings after they completed a 3-0 clean sweep over Sri Lanka in the shortest-format on Sunday.
Sri Lanka thrashed South Africa by 128 runs in Colombo on Wednesday to wrap up the one-day series 4-1.
Andre Fletcher produced a blinder of an innings, smashing 84 runs off only 64 balls, to power the West Indies to a comprehensive seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru, on Sunday.
Sri Lanka will look towards veteran Lasith Malinga to deliver with the ball and get them back on the winning path after their horror showing in the three-Test series.
Shardul Thakur knows that opportunities in a settled limited overs line-up won't come easily and that's the reason he is ready to 'step up' in an unenvious role of India's stop-gap third seamer in absence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah.
Glenn Maxwell played a scintillating cameo hitting an unbeaten 32 off 14 balls under pressure to power Kings XI Punjab to a six-wicket win over Rising Pune Supergiants.
Considered one of the greatest finishers in 50-overs cricket, Dhoni will join India's elite 'Club 300', which has Sachin Tendulkar (463), Rahul Dravid (344), Mohammed Azharuddin (334), Sourav Ganguly (311) and Yuvraj Singh (304).
Images from Friday's World Cup match between South Africa and Sri Lanka, at Chester-le-Street.
Sandeep Lamichhane continued his rapid rise in international cricket as he was named in the ICC World XI squad to take on the West Indies in a charity T20 International on May 31.
The match is being organised to raise funds for stadia in the Caribbean, which were damaged due to hurricanes last year.
World champions India have consolidated their top rank on the ICC ODI Team Rankings after sweeping the series against Sri Lanka, which concluded in Ranchi on Sunday.
Clinical India notched up another resounding win to humble a hapless Sri Lankan side by six wickets and clinch the five-match series in the third One-Day International in Hyderabad.
Kumar Sangakkara continued his awesome batting form in Bangladesh as Sri Lanka won the second One-Day International by 61 runs in Dhaka on Thursday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Kings XI Punjab would aim to keep the winning run going when they take on South Africa's Cape Cobras in a Group B encounter of the Champions League in Mohali on Sunday.
Suresh Raina smashed a quickfire half-century while skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni produced a belligerent unbeaten knock of 63 as Chennai Super Kings outclassed Sunrisers Hyderabad by 12 runs in their Champions League T20 match, in Ranchi.
Senior Sri Lankan batsman Dinesh Chandimal admitted that his side cannot always use 'transition phase' as an excuse for the team not doing well in recent times. Ahead of their World T20 cricket match against England on Saturday, Chandimal blamed on "inexperience of middle-order" for their inconsistent performances of late but he added that players need to "put their hands up and perform". "You cannot always say transition. We need to put our hands up. We will give our best shot in the next game," Chandimal said when asked whether a team comprising of Tillakaratne Dilshan, him, Chamara Kapugedara, Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera can be termed as inexperienced.
Yuvraj Singh's painstaking 21-ball 11 allowed Sri Lanka to regain the momentum and take home the ICC World T20 title.
India gave themselves a boost before next month's Twenty20 World Cup at home as Ravichandran Ashwin grabbed four wickets in their series-clinching nine-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the third and final Twenty20 international on Sunday.
Trent Boult produced an economical spell of bowling to take three wickets and help New Zealand to a tense three-run win over Sri Lanka in their first Twenty20 international on Thursday.
Eight teams have formed some of the best combinations from a pool of 64 top cricketers in the players' draft for T10League -- the limited ten-over format cricket -- that will be played at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Rohit Sharma blazed his way to a record-breaking knock of 264 as India trounced Sri Lanka by 153 runs in the fourth One-day International to take a 4-0 lead in the five-match series, at the Eden Gardens, in Kolkata, on Thursday. The Mumbai right-hander launched an all-out assault on the Lankan bowling as a result of which India amassed a mammoth 404 for five while batting first. In reply, the islanders were dismissed for 251 in 43.1 overs.
'Regrettable and unacceptable' is how Sri Lanka Cricket chief Thilanga Sumathipala described the behaviour of the Bangladesh team during their do-or-die match against the hosts on Friday night.
An explosive unbeaten 85 from David Miller and some hostile bowling by the fast bowlers helped South Africa to beat Sri Lanka by 56 runs in Pallekele on Friday and stay alive in the five-match series.
Sri Lanka produced an exceptional bowling and fielding display to beat Pakistan by 37 runs on Friday in the first of two Twenty20 internationals.
Skipper Rohit Sharma will be desperate to get back to form as a resurgent India look to set their record straight against hosts Sri Lanka in the third match of the Nidahas Tri-Series, in Colombo, on Monday.
Pakistan officials hope Sunday's match will encourage other countries to send their teams by next year.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be eager to break the sequence of reverses and get Rising Pune Supergiants' campaign back on track when they lock horns with in-form Kolkata Knight Riders.
Rohit Sharma registered the highest score in One-Day Internationals and also became the first in the history of cricket to hit two double centuries in the 50-overs' format in the fourth ODI against Sri Lanka, at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Trent Boult produced an economical spell of bowling to take three wickets and help New Zealand to a tense three-run win over Sri Lanka in their first Twenty20 international on Thursday.
Sri Lanka's late order batsmen held their nerve to beat Pakistan by two wickets and level the series in a match in which fortunes swung from one side to another in Dubai.
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