Right from the moment England captain Alastair Cook won the toss, his team did no wrong. The hosts humiliated South Africa as they handed them a crushing seven-wicket-defeat with 75 balls to spare in the first semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy, in London, on Wednesday.
Images from Day 4 of the second Test between South Africa and Australia in Port Elizabeth on Monday.
The 3-0 series win against the West Indies could be called a precursor and the real battle begins now against Quinton de Kock's Proteas who are also in the midst of a tough transition.
Enjoying one of the best phases in his career so far, Royal Challengers Bangalore's inspirational leader Virat Kohli is ready to play through pain against Kings XI Punjab with multiple stitches in his split webbing in another must-win IPL encounter in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Kohli sustained split webbing in his left hand while fielding against Kolkata Knight Riders as he went for a diving catch. He left the field briefly to get medical assistance, got his webbing taped and was back in field. He then played another classy knock to keep RCB's play-off qualification hopes alive. "I might need 7-8 stitches," Kohli had said after the match but if KXIP thought that the opposition skipper will make himself unavailable, they would be in for disappointment as RCB's manager Avinash Vaidya said that India's No 1 batsman will be playing in this crucial encounter.
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.
West Indies edged out South Africa by three wickets in their World Twenty20 Super 10 thriller on Friday at Nagpur to book their spot in the semi-finals from Group One. Requiring nine runs off the last over, all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite smashed a six off Kagiso Rabada to seal a famous victory for the Caribbean side. The Proteas are most-likely knocked out of the tournament and will now have to beat Sri Lanka by a handsome margin and hope that England lose to them on Saturday to qualify for the semi-finals.
Earlier, South Africa England swung the bat to declare on 313-8 at tea on the fourth day, a taking huge lead of 491 runs.
AB de Villiers has resigned as South Africa's Test captain, opening the way for childhood friend Faf du Plessis to take over on a permanent basis.
It was a day that saw brilliant centuries by South Africa's captain AB de Villiers and India's Rohit Sharma in the first One-Day International on Sunday. But some brilliant death bowling by the visitors saw them edge Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men by five wickets. Here are the statistical highlights from the match played at the GreenPark stadium in Kanpur.
Pakistan won a bilateral one-day international series against South Africa for the first time when they claimed a one-run victory in a thrilling finale in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday.
The Proteas' performance in the recent series against Pakistan in Dubai augured well for the 2015 World Cup but their real test will be the upcoming home series against India, according to former captain Kepler Wessels.
Three wickets in as many balls sent Pakistan tumbling from cruise control to defeat by six runs in the second Twenty20 international against series winners South Africa in Dubai on Friday.
Heavy showers had been forecast for Sunday and they duly arrived early in the morning. It picked up as the scheduled start time of play approached.
A buoyant India will look to cash in on South Africa's injury woes, compounded by the loss of captain Faf du Plessis, when the two sides meet in the second One-Day International in Centurion on Sunday.
The 34-year-old Steyn, currently on a short-term contract with Hampshire having been plagued by injury over the last two-and-a-half years, is three wickets short of a milestone that has frustratingly eluded him in recent times.
South Africa pace spearhead Dale Steyn has not allowed a series-ending injury to prevent him from backing his captain Faf du Plessis over allegations of ball tampering, suggesting Australia are using the incident as an excuse for losing. Du Plessis was charged with ball tampering on Friday after Australian television pictures showed him applying saliva to the ball with a sweet in his mouth during the second test, which South Africa won to clinch the series with a match to spare. The International Cricket Council (ICC) could ban Du Plessis from one test match if he is found guilty, putting him in doubt for next week's third test in Adelaide.
South Africa have named fast bowler Dale Steyn in their 15-man squad for the World Twenty20 in India next month, but will ask him to prove his fitness following a debilitating shoulder injury.
Cheteshwar Pujara gained a spot to be the highest-ranked Indian batsman at seventh even as R Ashwin remained steady eighth in the bowlers' list of the latest ICC Test rankings released on Sunday.
India will enter the 11th edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup in second spot behind leaders Australia.
South Africa have been traditionally weak against spinners.
South Africa are to gamble on the fitness of Quinton de Kock and JP Duminy, who were named on Wednesday in a 15-man squad for the Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand next month.
South African fast bowler Dale Steyn will not bowl again in the opening Test against England at Kingsmead after his shoulder spasm failed to clear up overnight, officials said on Tuesday.
South Africa reeled off their modest victory target of 41 runs early on the fourth day of the second Test against Pakistan to clinch the series with a comprehensive nine-wicket triumph at Newlands on Sunday.
Their hopes of qualifying for the play-offs of the Indian Premier League severely dented, Kings XI Punjab captain Glenn Maxwell termed the six- wicket defeat against Gujarat Lions on Sunday as 'pretty devastating'.
Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has criticised the performance of India's top-order batsmen save Murali Vijay terming their effort as "below-par" despite the pitch being a tricky one.
For Africa's Test-playing nations, administrative turmoil has defined the dying days of the 2010s.
Gujarat Lions skipper Suresh Raina, Mumbai Indians spinner Harbhajan Singh and Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar have got a place in former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting's Best XI of Indian Premier League 2017.
Rajneesh Gupta presents some interesting numbers from Day 1.
Indian cricket team stands a chance of making big gains in terms of International Cricket Council (ICC) Test ranking if they manage to register a 3-1 victory over Australia in their ongoing four-match series.
South Africa slid to 105 for six on the third day of the second and final test against New Zealand on Monday but were still firmly in command at Centurion, holding a 372-run lead. After bowling the Kiwis out for 214, the hosts did not enforce the follow-on as the pitch is getting more and more difficult for the batsmen. New Zealand's bowlers took six wickets in the last session of the day with only stand-in opener Quinton de Kock (50) offering any resistance as Stephen Cook, Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, captain Faf du Plessis and Stiaan van Zyl went cheaply.
Former India opener Sunil Gavaskar on Saturday said that it is not a poor advertisement for cricket if a Test match finishes inside three days and such results are coming more often in recent years since the players nowadays lack patience to survive five days.
South Africa captain Faf du Plessis says his side is determined to enjoy their final week at the World Cup - and that started with a nine-wicket victory over Sri Lanka at The Riverside. They now have a week until their final match - against Australia - at Old Trafford but are keen to ensure they bow out on a high.
With both teams virtually out of the semi-final race, South Africa and Pakistan will be battling it out for a consolation win in their World Cup match at Lord's.
South Africa were 123 for four in the third Test against New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Saturday before rain forced the abandonment of the first day's play after 41 overs.
It's less than a year since he made his debut, in the first Test against India at Mohali, but Kagiso Rabada has emerged South Africa's leading cricketer. The 21-year-old fast bowler was named South African's youngest ever Cricketer of the Year and also scooped up five other awards at a gala hosted by Cricket South Africa.
Kagiso Rabada regained his top spot among bowlers crossing the coveted 900-point mark in ratings even as Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin climbed up a couple of notches to be placed fourth in the ICC Test Player Rankings, released on Tuesday.
South Africa were 224 for six at the close of play in a chilly Dunedin with a lead of 191 runs entering the final day on a pitch that is turning but offering little assistance for the pace bowlers and is proving difficult to score from.
India pacer Jasprit Bumrah was more than happy to take advantage of the helpful conditions with ball in hand and the 25-year-old took great pains to ensure the magnitude of the occasion didn't adversely affect him.
"I don't think Morne is fit enough to play tomorrow. He bowled a bit in the nets and probably we will take the final call tomorrow, but I don't think he will be fit," Amla told reporters at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.
Trailing 1-2 in the series, India have some concerns with most batsmen not showing enough flexibility at different batting positions.
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