South Africa have slipped to number six in the world, behind fifth-placed Sri Lanka, and have a host of questions to answer, not least around a brittle top six and the balance of the side.
England will be determined to get their act together against defending champions Sri Lanka.
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.
Alastair Cook said he has no intention of stepping down as captain after his England side lost the seventh and final match of the One-Day International series against Sri Lanka in Colombo.
Alastair Cook said he has no intention of stepping down as captain after his England side lost the seventh and final match of the One-Day International series against Sri Lanka in Colombo.
Australia's David Warner, on Friday, completed 1000 runs in 2014 en route his century in the second innings of the first cricket Test against India in Adelaide, becoming the first opener to achieve the feat since England skipper Alastair Cook in 2012.
Virat Kohli and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are India's highest-ranked batsman and bowler in third and 13th positions respectively.
India captain Virat Kohli said his team were not invincible after the defending champions allowed Sri Lanka to chase down a target of 322 to win a pulsating Champions Trophy match at The Oval on Thursday.
IMAGES from the 1st T20I played between India and Sri Lanka on Wednesday
Pacer Suranga Lakmal shone with the ball to help Sri Lanka steamroll India by seven wickets in the first one-day international in Dharamsala on Sunday.
India set Sri Lanka a daunting 410-run victory target and dented the tourists' top order to maintain their iron grip on the third and final Test on Tuesday.
Pakistan will meet Group A toppers England in the first semi-final on Wednesday at the same venue.
Australia's stand-in skipper David Warner led by example, hitting a brilliant century in their five-wicket win against Sri Lanka to complete a 4-1 series victory on Sunday.
Sri Lanka's Kaushal Silva roared back into form with a century in the final Test against Australia on Tuesday, boosting the hosts' hopes of a 3-0 sweep against the world number one team at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo.
Skipper Virat Kohli's magnificent 243 was overshadowed by unprecedented scenes of mask-wearing Sri Lankan players, who halted proceedings thrice, complaining of poor air quality, on Day 2 of the third Test, in New Delhi.
Rajneesh Gupta gives us all the numbers to tell us how the Indian skipper creates new record after record.
Sri Lankan Kusal Mendis struck a majestic maiden century on day three of the first Test against Australia to leave the bowler-dominated contest evenly poised at Pallekele on Thursday.
Ambati Rayudu slammed his maiden hundred as India produced yet another comprehensive batting performance to ease past Sri Lanka by six wickets in the second One-Day International, in Motera, Ahmedabad, on Thursday.
Rajneesh Gupta presents the interesting numbers from Day 1 of the second Test between Sri Lanka and India in Colombo.
Sri Lanka beat England with just one ball to spare to win the second Test at Headingley by 100 runs on Tuesday and take the two-match series 1-0.
Sri Lanka opener Kusal Perera blasted the second fastest one-day fifty in their series-levelling two-wicket victory against Pakistan in the second ODI at Pallekele on Wednesday.
Younis Khan scored an epic unbeaten 171 to guide Pakistan to their highest successful run chase and a seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the third Test in Pallekele on Tuesday. It enabled the tourists clinch the three-match series by a 2-1 margin.
Unbeaten centuries by Shan Masood and Younis Khan kept Pakistan on course for a landmark victory in the series-deciding third and final Test against Sri Lanka, in Pallekele, on Monday. Set a challenging target of 377 runs, the tourists recovered from a shaky 13 for 2 to move to 230 without further loss by stumps on a rain-free fourth day.
England fast bowler James Anderson took five wickets to inspire the hosts to a crushing victory over Sri Lanka by an innings and 88 runs in the first Test in Leeds on Saturday.
Coach Mickey Arthur feels education on various aspects of the game is the need of the hour for Sri Lankan cricketers.
Shehzad-Ali add 120 runs for second wicket as Pakistan trail by six runs with eight wickets in hand
The Australia batsman has overtaken New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and is now only nine points behind India skipper Virat Kohli.
Captain Virat Kohli's blazing blade ensured a comfortable seven-wicket victory in the one-off Twenty20 International as the visitors completed a 9-0 rout of Sri Lanka across all three formats, in Colombo, on Wednesday.
Any other result than India's resounding win looks highly unlikely, consdering the visitors' rampaging run in the preceding Test and ODI series, where they whitewashed the hosts 3-0 and 5-0 respectively.
Images from Day 2 of the first Test between Sri Lanka and India in Galle, on Friday.
India lose 7 wickets for 22 runs. Defeat seems certain. Then the Master and an unlikely disciple take charge.
With the hope that 2018 will be a prosperous and peaceful year, our favourite sports personalities took to their social media handles to wish their fans a very `Happy New Year`.
After being bowled out for a paltry 183 in the first innings losing as many as eight wickets in a single session, No 3 Mendis (110 off 135 balls) and opener Karunaratne (92 batting, 200 balls) added 191 as the visitors could get only two wickets in the next two sessions.
Sri Lanka batting coach Thilan Samaraweera said the bowlers let the team down in the second ODI against India where they conceded 50-60 runs too many.
Opener Rohit Sharma smashed his third one-day international double century to set up India's comprehensive 141-run win against Sri Lanka in the second match of the series.
Supremely confident on home turf, defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders will look to continue their forward march when they face an inconsistent Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League T20 cricket tournament at Eden Gardens, in Kolkata on Thursday.
A couple of hours after being told by doctors that his Asia Cup was over because of a fractured left wrist, Tamim walked out to bat with one hand after the fall of ninth Bangladesh wicket.
India's One-day skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni reckons the current Indian squad is very balanced' ahead of the three-match series against Sri Lanka and insisted that maintaining fitness will be a crucial factor for his side during next month's World Twenty20.
England captain Eoin Morgan has said that he did not come into the ICC World T20 with an aim of achieving a specific target but the endeavour has always been to get the best out of the available resources. Asked if he had expected at the start that England will qualify for the semi-finals, Morgan said: "I don't expect a great deal to be honest. I don't set expectations, barriers or limitations. It's all about getting the best out of what we have and at the moment and we seem to be doing that. If we do that from here on in, we put ourselves in really good position." Morgan is happy that the T20 unit has shown a lot of character in recent times by winning pressure games. "It gives us a great deal of confidence. I think in three of our wins we've had to show an immense amount of character, having to chase down 230 (vs SA) and then against Afghanistan, we put our backs against the wall early. We had to fight quite hard.
Here are stories blogged around the Cricket World Cup
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