The islanders, led by Charith Asalanka, have quietly built a formidable unit combining top-order solidity with middle-order power and a spin attack tailor-made for UAE conditions.
Zimbabwe secured victory off the last ball as they beat Afghanistan by four wickets in the first of their three-match Twenty20 series at the Harare Sports Club on Wednesday.
Glimpses from India and around the world that will make you smile and cry.
Players from the other teams who could push the Men in Blue to the limit.
Finn Allen has been ruled out of the tournament after suffering a foot injury while representing the San Francisco Unicorns in the Major League Cricket in the United States.
Wiaan Mulder was 34 runs shy of a record for the most runs in a Test innings when he declared South Africa's first innings on 626/5 at lunch on the second day of the second Test against Zimbabwe.
Keshav Maharaj on Sunday became the first spinner from South Africa to take 200 Test wickets
Former Indian cricketer Atul Wassan urged the Pakistan team to showcase their anger and some competition on the field rather than being in controversies off the field,
S Africa select young guns Brevis, Pretorius for Australia tour
Pakistan withdrew its pullout threat and showed up for a crucial Asia Cup game against the UAE in Dubai on Wednesday but not before causing a delay.
The 22-year-old brought up his first ODI ton in 53 balls, as he hammered the ball to all corners and finished 113 not out.
Top-order batter Rassie van der Dussen will lead South Africa during next month's Twenty20 tri-series with New Zealand and hosts Zimbabwe, with four uncapped players in the squad, Cricket South Africa said on Thursday.
South Africa's stand-in captain Wiaan Mulder scored an unbeaten double century to set a record for a new Test skipper and help his side to a formidable 465 for four wickets on the first day of the second Test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo on Sunday.
New Zealand seamer Matt Henry restricted South Africa to three runs from the last over to seal a three-run victory in the Twenty20 International Tri-Series final at the Harare Sports Club in Zimbabwe on Saturday.
His consistency comes at a crucial time, with stiff competition for a spot in India's Asia Cup XI following Shubman Gill's return as vice-captain, and the inclusion of wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma after a stellar IPL season for Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Kaif expects Rohit's retirement after 2027 ODI World Cup, picks his replacement
Players from lower-ranked nations have limited opportunities to learn from competing with top-tier teams but franchise cricket has helped them develop their skills by rubbing shoulders with elite cricketers, Zimbabwe's T20 skipper Sikandar Raza has said.
Chris Gayle has criticised South Africa's stand-in skipper Wiaan Mulder for declaring the innings despite being within reach of Brian Lara's world record Test
Kuwait has executed 25 Indian nationals in the past five years.
He finished with 5 for 16 from 2.3 overs at the Pembroke Cricket Club, Sandymount, Dublin.
Teenager Lhuan-dre Pretorius scored 153 on debut and Corbin Bosch an unbeaten maiden century as a much-changed South Africa reached 418 for nine on the opening day of the first Test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo on Saturday.
India will kickstart their campaign on September 10 against the UAE. Media reports suggest that Gill could make his return to the T20I team, possibly as vice-captain.
'Jaiswal has an avg of 36 & a strike rate of 164 in T20Is and he got dropped for Gill who has avg of 30 and a strike rate of 139.' 'There is no place for merit anymore.'
England were closing in on a crushing victory over Zimbabwe at the close on the second day of the one-off Test on Friday, despite opener Brian Bennett scoring the fastest Test century for the African side.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan are in the fray for selection in India's Asia Cup squad, which is expected to be picked in the third week of August.
England captain Ben Stokes said fast bowler Jofra Archer is 100 percent ready to play his first Test since February 2021.
India, Australia and England are likely to be joined by South Africa, New Zealand and Sri Lanka in the top division, while Pakistan, the West Indies, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Ireland will be placed in the second division.
'Sanju was playing because Shubman and Yashasvi were not available at that point (and) so was Abhishek. (But) Abhishek's performances clearly make it hard to leave him out. Plus, his bowling (left arm spin) is handy.'
India captain Shubman Gill was on Wednesday named among the three nominees for ICC's Player of the Month award for July along with South Africa's Wiaan Mulder and England skipper Ben Stokes.
South Africa stand-in captain Wiaan Mulder felt he had no right to dislodge West Indies great Brian Lara from the summit of highest Test innings scores.
'I think we've seen on various stages around the world now that they are proper X-factor players and that they have taken to international cricket quite easily.'
'We cannot say suddenly that Crawley and Pope have solved the technical and mental issues that have dogged their careers because the Zimbabwe bowling was so average.'
New Black Caps coach Rob Walter confirmed that Williamson is still committed to representing New Zealand, even though he opted out of the upcoming Test tour of Zimbabwe.
South African all-rounder Wiaan Mulder has revealed that legendary West Indies batter Brian Lara told him that he should have tried to break the record for the highest individual score in Test cricket.
Zimbabwe posted the highest-ever team total in the history of T20Is by amassing a monumental 344 for 4 against a lowly Gambia in a Group B encounter of the T20 World Cup Sub Regional Africa Qualifier in Nairobi on Wednesday.
Shubman Gill and Jasprit Bumrah returned to India's T20 squad for next month's Asia Cup, but IPL star performers Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal missed out.
Michael Vaughan said substitutes who replace injured players in the first innings of a Test match should be able to bat and bowl for the remainder of the match.
In the recently concluded five-match Test series against England, India's star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant stood tall as a beacon of determination, battling through injuries to deliver a string of gutsy, crowd-pleasing knocks that underlined his value to the side.
Atkinson, who is playing his first Test of the series following a hamstring strain, said that he is "ready to push the limits" in case Woakes does not take any further part.
Former England skipper Alastair Cook backed Ollie Pope to retain the No. 3 spot in the batting line-up ahead of Jacob Bethell during the upcoming five-match Test series against India.
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