Teenager Trent Alexander-Arnold curled in a magnificent free kick on his European debut to set Liverpool on the way to a 2-1 win at Hoffenheim which put them on the brink of UEFA Champions League group stage place.
For all those who are likely to get a game, there will be just one target -- to make most of their chances as some of them might not get too many with just about 16 months left for the 50-overs World Cup.
Shehzad-Ali add 120 runs for second wicket as Pakistan trail by six runs with eight wickets in hand
IMAGES from the 1st T20I played between India and Sri Lanka on Wednesday
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.
The in-form Rajasthan Royals will be confident of a third consecutive victory when they take on Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League, in Jaipur, on Wednesday.
Kumar Sangakkara created history by notching up a record fourth consecutive ODI century that powered Sri Lanka to a crushing 148-run win over Scotland in their final group league match of the ongoing cricket World Cup in Hobart.
Opener Stephen Cook scored a career-high century to help South Africa build a massive 432-run lead over Sri Lanka despite rain delays on the third day of the first Test at St George's Park in Port Elizabeth.
Images from the third One-Day International between India and Sri Lanka, in Colombo, on Friday.
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.
Mumbai Indians will look to continue in similar vein when they lock horns with Rajasthan Royals in
Burns, who had scored the last of his three Test hundreds against New Zealand in early 2016, was batting on 107, the first century by an Australian batsman since Usman Khawaja's 141 in the drawn Dubai Test against Pakistan last October.
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.
A place in the final at stake, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh would expect their batsmen to fire as they lock horns in a virtual semi-final of the Nidahas Twenty20 tri-series, in Colombo, on Friday.
>With 40 out of 70 IPL 2022 games completed, the crucial playoff spots are slowly starting to take shape. Shailesh Karkera finds out how teams may fare in the crucial second half of IPL 2022.
Fired four years ago following allegations of match-fixing, Ejaz Ahmed junior has been controversially appointed head coach of the Pakistan squad for the Asian Emerging Nations Cup, to be held in Karachi and Colombo in December.
Penpix of the Sri Lanka squad for the 2015 cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
South Africa's bowlers needed a little more than an hour of the final day's play to dismiss Sri Lanka for 281 in their second innings and claim a 206-run victory in the first Test in Port Elizabeth on Friday.
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.
Sri Lanka defeated India by five wickets in the first Twenty20 international cricket match to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, in Pune on Tuesday. Chasing a modest target of 102 runs set by India, Lankan skipper Dinesh Chandimal led from the front scoring 35 runs off as many balls, while Milinda Sriwardana's unbeaten 21 runs off 14 balls ensured a comparatively young visiting squad secured a morale-boosting victory.
Three consecutive defeats have more or less sealed their fate and for things to turn around for the Royals, every aspect of their game needs to improve and click for them.
Kane Williamson became the second New Zealand batsman to score 1000 Test runs in a calendar year as the hosts built an imposing 308-run lead over Sri Lanka at the close of the third day's play of the first Test in Dunedin.
The Royals are aware of the challenges facing them at the Sawai Mansingh Stadum, a few days after Sunrisers Hyderabad got the better of Kings XI Punjab to grab the second position in the standings.
Trent Boult and Neil Wagner quickly wrapped up Sri Lanka's second innings on Sunday as New Zealand clinched the series 1-0 with a dominant 423-run victory in the second Test.
Australia will play two spinners in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Pallekele on Tuesday, captain Steve Smith said, as the world's top-ranked side eye a turnaround in their poor record on the slow pitches in Asia.
Rain played spoilsport on the opening day, washing out more than two sessions, after India had recovered to 50 for two in their first innings in the third and final Test against Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo, on Friday.
Skipper Angelo Mathews and opener Kaushal Silva hit half-centuries to help Sri Lanka take a 166-run first innings lead against Pakistan and push for a series-levelling victory on day two of the second Test on Friday.
Root said that spinning tracks will throw challenges to the visiting team but they are adapting to the conditions quickly.
Matt Henry took the second five-wicket haul of his career to bowl New Zealand to a 36-run victory over Sri Lanka in the fifth one-day international and seal a 3-1 series victory at Bay Oval in Mt. Maunganui on Tuesday.
This is Tharanga's second ban in recent times after he suffered a similar two-match ban for slow over-rate in the Champions Trophy when he had led the side against South Africa in the absence of then-skipper Angelo Mathews.
England Test skipper Alastair Cook believes his batsmen are well-prepared to deal with Pakistan's fiery attack next month after getting plenty of practice in the middle against a weakened Sri Lanka side.
Images from Day 1 in the third Test between India and Sri Lanka, in Colombo.
Weakened by the departure of Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes, Rajasthan Royals will have their task cut out when they lock horns with a resurgent Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League match in Jaipur on Saturday.
Their fate hanging in balance, a loss in the penultimate league round match may virtually sound the death knell for one of the two teams.
Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings, the two franchises that returned to the IPL after serving bans in the aftermath of the 2013 spot-fixing scandal, will come face to face for the first time in the ongoing edition, keen to regain lost momentum in Pune, on Friday.
Sri Lanka off-spinner Tharindu Kaushal scythed through Pakistan's batting order to pick up his first five-wicket haul as the visitors were bundled out for 138 on the opening day of the second test on Thursday.
A keen contest is on the cards as Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals cross swords in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Bengaluru, on Sunday.
Rajasthan Royals will need to regroup quickly after a heavy loss when they face Delhi Daredevils in what will be their first IPL home game in five years at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, in Jaipur, on Wednesday.
Boosted by their 3-0 clean sweep of Australia Down Under, a confident India would seek to continue their winning momentum when they take on a depleted and new-look Sri Lanka in the first of three T20 Internationals, in Pune, on Tuesday.
Kane Williamson scored his fifth century in eight Tests in 2015 to guide New Zealand to a five-wicket victory over Sri Lanka before lunch on the fourth day of the second Test at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Monday.