Ben Stokes struck a sparkling unbeaten 74 to help England finish the opening day of the second Test against South Africa on a healthy 317 for five at Newlands on Saturday.
Opener Dean Elgar provided stubborn resistance as South Africa finished the second day of the first Test on 137 for four in reply to England's 303 at Kingsmead on Sunday.
The former England captain said that both sides must address the fragility in their batting orders, with England too dependent on captain Alastair Cook and Joe Root and the hosts relying on Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers.
England's batsmen failed to take full advantage on a first day of swinging fortunes in the second Test against Sri Lanka, finishing on 310 for six after outstanding catching kept the touring side in contention on Friday.
Former England captain Kevin Pietersen took to Twitter to describe Ian Bell's omission from England's squad for the tour of South Africa as 'ridiculous' and 'pathetic'.
Factbox on England captain Alastair Cook, who became the first English batsman to score 10,000 runs in test matches in the second test against Sri Lanka on Monday. *Born Dec. 25, 1984 in Gloucester, England. *Scored an unbeaten 104 on test debut against India at Nagpur in 2006, and made his one-day international debut against Sri Lanka in the same year. *Scored 766 runs in seven innings during the 2010-2011 Ashes tour, to help England to their first series win in Australia for 24 years. *Scored 294 against India in 2011, his highest test score to date, and was named as International Cricket Council's Test Cricketer of the Year in 2011. *Was appointed MBE in the Queen's birthday honours list.
Venus Williams sees no end in sight on the tennis court, even envisioning another Olympics alongside her sister Serena.
Anirban Lahiri drew the curtains on his 2015 Augusta Masters campaign with a string of 18 pars to total four-over 292 to finish tied 49th at the world's most famous golf tournament.
England opener Michael Carberry looks set to make his Ashes debut next week after being included in the team to face an Invitational XI in a warm-up match at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday.
South Korean Chung Hyeon managed to hang around against Roger Federer a little longer this time around, but only just, as the Swiss maestro advanced to the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open 7-5, 6-1 on Thursday.
Alex Hales and Jonathan Bairstow led a fight back for England after debutant all-rounder Dasun Shanaka sparked a top-order collapse on the first day of the first Test against England at Headingley on Thursday. England, who were 70 for four soon after lunch, had moved on to 171 for five when rain prevented any play after tea and forced an early close to an intriguing opening day in the 75th Test staged at Headingley.
Serena and Venus Williams added another chapter to what the world number one claims to be greatest story in tennis when she outslugged her sister 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 on Tuesday to reach the semi-finals of the US Open.
Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand made a disappointing start to his campaign at the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival in Gibraltar after he was held to a draw by International Master Szidonia Lazarne Vajda of Hungary in the opening round of the masters section.
Joe Root scored an unbeaten 106 and shared a swashbuckling partnership with Ben Stokes as England put the brakes on a hostile South African attack to reach 238 for five at the close of the second day of the third Test on Friday.
Stokes now holds the record score for an England number six, beating Graham Hick's 187 against India in 1993, and became the first English centurion at Newlands for 50 years.
South Africa's status as the top-ranked Test-playing nation has been dented after their crushing defeat in India last month and is in danger of being eroded completely by England over the next month or two.
England will head into this year's Ashes series against Australia heartened by their performances against New Zealand but with nagging doubts about key areas in the team.
With a new cricket director, coach and chairman, England return to the field of play in the first Test against New Zealand on Thursday following an extraordinary period of upheaval.
Serena Williams has buried the hatchet and will return to Indian Wells.
American Serena Williams won her seventh Wimbledon singles crown, and equalled the professional era record of 22 grand slam titles, with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Germany's Angelique Kerber on Saturday:
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The selectors have much to ponder after England slumped to a crushing 405-run defeat by Australia in the second Ashes Test at Lord's with calls for change in the top order coming a week after the team were lauded for their first-test victory.
Serena Williams is third on the list of female Grand Slam title winners. She is one of only five women, after Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf, to hold all four Grand Slam titles at same time.
Indian Grandmaster P Harikrishna started his campaign by outclassing Eric De Haan of Holland in the first round of the Masters' section of Tradewise Gibraltar Chess festival at the Caleta in Gibraltar.
A quick guide into the life of Serena Williams, the GOAT - The Greatest of All Time!
Serena Williams did not smile, celebrate or even acknowledge the standing ovation she was receiving from the roaring crowd as she watched Timea Bacsinszky's backhand float out on match point at the French Open on Thursday.
A win by Venus would keep the 35-year-old on track for a first grand slam title since 2008 Wimbledon and a possible return to the US Open final where she first made the final in her debut in 1997. But a victory would end little sister Serena's quest for the rarest of tennis feats -- a calendar-year grand slam.
A quick look at the Oscar 2016 nominations.
Anderson becomes number-one ranked Test bowler
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Statistical highlights of the fifth and final day of the first Test between India and Australia at the Adelaide Oval.
World No 1 Serena Williams swept past good friend Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 6-3 in the US Open final on Sunday to move up in the record books with her 18th grand slam title.
'Syed Mushtaq Ali was like a lion, not a labourer, at the crease. Attack was his defence and he would show no mercy on the bowlers'
Rajneesh Gupta presents all the numbers from the first Test in Rajkot.
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