England's top order crumbled to 20 for six wickets in five overs as they were dismissed for a modest total of 153 before the Proteas cruised to a seven-wicket victory for a consolation triumph after the hosts won the first two matches of the series.
James Anderson set the tone for England's win with a wicket in the very first over of the match.
After a below-par effort against Pune Supergiants, the Delhi Darevils will be looking to hit the straps rightaway with their prime players set to comeback in the playing XI as they take on bottom-placed Kings XI Punjab in an IPL encounter at Mohali on Saturday. Following three horrendous seasons, the Daredevils have had a decent outing so far under Rahul Dravid's mentorship and Zaheer Khan's captaincy, having won five of their eight games and are placed third in the eight-team table. There has been no standout performer as such but contributions from most of the players in their five victories has made it clear that Dravid's men are certainly not dependant on any one individual to carry the team forward.
All-rounder JP Duminy has insisted that South Africa are capable enough to tackle the Indian spinners in the 'do or die' third Test match in Nagpur, which starts on Wednesday.
South African cricketers David Miller and Hashim Amla, on Friday, said it would be a great loss if the Indian team pulls out of the Champions Trophy as the country has largest number of cricket followers in the world.
While Sri Lanka will be fancying their chances against a lowly South African side, the Proteas would be more than keen to make a statement against the 1996 winners.
South Africa's mammoth total of 438 for four against India in the fifth and final One-dayer was the highest innings score in the country, besides being the joint third-highest ever in the world, in Mumbai, On Sunday.
India's team manager, Vinod Phadke, has been fined 40 per cent of his match fee after being found guilty of making inappropriate comments about umpire Vineet Kulkarni ahead of Wednesday's second One-Day International against South Africa in Indore.
India's swing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar on Tuesday jumped eight places to a career-best 22 following his impressive show in a lost cause in the first Test against South Africa but Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara slipped in the ICC ranking ladder.
West Indies tour of South Africa hit a new low on Wednesday when they were bundled out for 122 in under 34 overs to lose the third one-day international by nine wickets at Buffalo Park.
South Africa, who have been hit by injuries to their pacers, finally have something to cheer about with Lungi Ngidi set to make a comeback in their next game against Afghanistan on June 15.
The Indian cricket team and its premier spinner Ravichandran Ashwin held on to their numero uno status in the latest ICC Test rankings for teams and bowlers respectively.
Yuzvendra Chahal bamboozled the batsmen with his leg spin as he grabbed four wickets for 51 runs, while fellow spinner Kuldeep Yadav chipped in with a wicket.
Stand-in skipper AB de Villiers knocked the stuffing out of England attack with a blistering 28-ball 69 before the bowlers chipped in with useful contributions to propel South Africa to a three-run win and a semifinal berth at the ICC World T20 in Chittagong on Saturday.
Vernon Philander took two wickets in as many balls to leave Pakistan on 17 for two wickets at the end of the first day of the third Test after they had rallied earlier on Friday and bowled hosts South Africa out for 262.
Chasing an improbable target of 490 to level the series, the tourists finished day three on 139-5, their highest total in the spin-dominated series, at Colombo's Sinhalese Sports Club Ground.
Kings XI Punjab will once again be facing a 'do-or-die' situation during their penultimate round encounter against table toppers Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, in Mumbai, on Thursday.
Kings XI Punjab will look to go all guns blazing against down and out Gujarat Lions in Mohali.
South Africa put one foot in the World Cup quarter-finals by batting past the 400-run mark for the second successive match to hand Ireland a thumping defeat by 201 runs with five overs to spare at Manuka Oval on Tuesday.
India have a chance to hold the Proteas by the scruff of their neck with the latter seemingly at their weakest following back-to-back defeats,
South Africa have retained the same 15-man squad that saved the series with Pakistan in October for their two home Tests against India later this month.
The India right-hander has 862 points in his kitty, still 25 points behind AB de Villiers of South Africa, who is heading the list.
Captain Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers led the chase as South Africa cut the deficit to 102 runs in their bid to haul in the West Indies total of 329 before rain ended the second day of the third Test at Newlands on Saturday.
Hashim Amla's third double-ton for South Africa and Stiaan van Zyl's unbeaten century on debut against West Indies helped the hosts declare on 552 for five before rain brought an early end to day two of the first Test on Thursday.
AB de Villiers has been ruled out of South Africa's two-test home series against New Zealand this month with an injured elbow and Faf du Plessis will take over the captaincy.
Mominul Haque (28) and Tamim Iqbal, who hit a six off the final ball of the day to reach 22, were not out at stumps on Friday as Bangladesh began their reply after South Africa's tea-time declaration on 496 for three.
There is no clarity on the number of players in the auction pool because the deadline for franchises to prune the original list has been deferred to February 4.
Off-spinner R Ashwin, who has been phenomenal in home conditions, has made it to the Test team as the 12th man, while pacer Mohammed Shami has been included in the ODI team.
There were no demons in the wicket, says Virat Kohli.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) has named Dean Elgar in the list of its contracted players, in place of the retired Test captain Graeme Smith.
South Africa exceeded expectations by scoring 431 in their first innings. At stumps on Day 4, they were 11 for one, needing another 384 runs for an improbably victory.
South Africa's hopes of a semi-final place at the Cricket World Cup appear to have been washed out along with their fixture against the West Indies at the Rose Bowl on Monday.
Dale Steyn became the second South African bowler to claim 400 Test wickets.
South Africa have recalled fast bowler Kyle Abbott for the second Test against India in his home town of Durban starting on Boxing Day (December 26).
South Africa opener Quinton de Kock's attacking 87 set up a four-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second one-day international in Dambulla on Wednesday, handing the tourists a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
South Africa will dearly miss AB de Villiers in the World Cup. De Villiers announced a shock retirement from international cricket last year.
'You can't chase 190 every time. Bowlers have to do something. We haven't won any 4 p.m. games. It's a learning curve for us. Spinners have to step up'
Fast bowler Anrich Nortje, wicketkeeper/batsman Rudi Second and spin bowling all-rounder Senuran Muthusamy have been included in the 15-man squad that will be captained by Faf du Plessis.
Cricket Australia have agreed to let Muslim leg spinner Fawad Ahmed compete without the logo of a sponsor's beer brand on his shirt out of respect for his "personal beliefs".
India's Team Director Ravi Shastri indicated that Ravichandran Ashwin will play in the opening cricket Test against South Africa, saying the off-spinner is "absolutely fine".
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