Sri Lanka off-spinner Dilruwan Perera took six wickets in the second innings for a match-haul of 10, as the hosts registered a thumping 278-run win over South Africa inside three days of the opening Test on Saturday.
Leg-spinner Imran Tahir underlined why he is the world's top-ranked bowler in limited overs cricket as he bamboozled New Zealand's batsmen to help South Africa to a 78-run victory in their only Twenty20 match at Eden Park on Friday.
Ahead of Wednesday's first Ashes Test in Cardiff, Root expressed his disappointment by posting two messages on Twitter.
Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada claimed four wickets each as South Africa ripped out Sri Lanka for 110 on the second day of the second Test.
Du Plessis had a tough time in 2015, scoring just 60 runs in seven innings.
The visitors won the first two matches of the series in Durban and Centurion by six and nine wickets, respectively, dismantling the home side with consummate ease.
'We want to give Rohit Sharma an opportunity to open the innings in Tests'
Seamer Vernon Philander took career-best figures as rampant South Africa claimed a 72-run victory over India in a gripping first Test at Newlands on Monday.
India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin slipped a place to take the third position in the latest ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers in Dubai on Thursday.
Hashim Amla's 13th One-day International century and a clinical performance in the field carried South Africa to a comfortable 75 run victory in the opener of their three-match series against Sri Lanka on Sunday.
India have never won an ODI series in South Africa, having lost 5-2 in 1992-93, 4-0 in 2006- 07, 3-2 in 2010-11 and 2-0 in 2013-14.
South Africa seamer Dale Steyn grabbed his first Test wicket after an injury absence of 14 months as the hosts fought back against a fired-up India on an enthralling first day of cut-and-thrust cricket in the opening Test at Newlands in Cape Town on Friday.
India's status as the No 1 Test side in ICC rankings will remain intact irrespective of how the series against South Africa pans out, but the Proteas will join the visitors at the top if they win all the three matches.
South Africa have named uncapped batsman Theunis de Bruyn in their injury-hit squad for the three-match home Test series against Sri Lanka that starts on December 26.
Desperate to get their campaigns back on track, the two bottom placed teams in the Indian Premier League -- Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore -- lock horns in Mohali on Monday, aiming to keep their winning momentum going to stay afloat in the ninth edition of the T20 league.
South Africa's pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada feels the upcoming T20I and Test series against India is a chance for his embattled team to figure where it stands against the world's best in a tough transition journey.
England captain Eoin Morgan's century led his team to an impressive series opening 72-run victory against top-ranked South Africa in their opening One-Day International at Headingley.
Explosive all-rounder Ben Stokes and relentless run accumulator Steve Smith could not be more different in their approaches to the game but both roared back from personally adversity to bestride an extraordinary cricketing year. Virat Kohli and his men top the confused and confusing World Test Championship table with seven wins in as many matches, including their first pink-ball Test against Bangladesh last month. That victory marked their 12th consecutive Test series win at home.
Dale Steyn is all set to go out all guns blazing in Melbourne, when South Africa takes on India in World Cup Pool B match.
IMAGES from Day 3 of the 3rd Test played between South Africa and Australia in Cape Town on Saturday
Sunrisers Hyderabad's pace spearhead Bhuvneshwar Kumar said he was not worried about the onslaught launched by Manan Vohra of Kings XI Punjab in their Indian Premier League match in Hyderabad, on Monday, as he is 'used to it'.
South Africa beat Pakistan by 28 runs after Quinton de Kock scored his maiden one-day international hundred and Dale Steyn posted his best ever match figures in the fourth game of the series in the United Arab Emirates on Friday.
South African speedster Dale Steyn will miss the fourth and final test against India with a lingering groin injury that has limited his participation in the four-match series to a solitary contest in the series-opener in Mohali.
Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc produced high-quality reverse-swing to claim five wickets against South Africa as the tourists seized control of the first Test with a first innings lead of 189 at the close on the second day.
'Not having the best bowler in the world is never a nice thing.' 'It is not the name that we play, it is a cricket ball that we face.'
Openers Graeme Smith and Alviro Petersen weathered a difficult 45 minutes to take South Africa to tea at 38 without loss chasing an unlikely victory target of 458 on the fourth day of the first Test against India at the Wanderers on Saturday.
Ajinkya Rahane rallied India with a gutsy, unbeaten 89 as India's much-vaunted top-order failed yet again on the opening day of the fourth Test against South Africa at the Feroz Shah Kotla, in Delhi, on Thursday.
The leg-spinner is first South African to claim seven wickets in an ODI and became the fastest Proteas bowler to reach 100 ODI wickets in 58 matches -- the fourth quickest overall.
AB de Villiers, called time on his illustrious international career, claiming to be 'out of gas' after 14 years in the top league.
Firebrand fast bowler Dale Steyn will seek to become South Africa's greatest wicket-taker in Tests when they take on Pakistan in the first match of a three-game series at Centurion Park in Pretoria on Wednesday.
India captain Virat Kohli remained in second spot behind Steve Smith while Alastair Cook jumped nine places to be eighth in the latest ICC Test rankings after his unbeaten double century in the ongoing Ashes.
South Africa had prepared for a spin onslaught in India but their batsmen were left flummoxed by the hosts' seam attack, captain Faf du Plessis said.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni single-handedly scripted Rising Pune Supergiants' face-saving four-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab with a last-ball six to help them avoid the bottom-place finish in the Indian Premier League in Visakhapatnam, on Saturday.
The touring side reached 75-1 in their second innings at the close, a lead of 205, with Dean Elgar (38 not out) and Hashim Amla (23 not out) bringing some order to the final hour and ensuring their team are well-placed to force the victory that would level the four-match series at 1-1.
Kings XI Punjab coach Sanjay Bangar on Tuesday said losing Glenn Maxwell at the fag end of the Indian Premier League is a big blow to the team, which has already been eliminated from the play-offs.
'For all of us it is just about converting and I am not different to any one of those players when I get to 50, I want to get a hundred'
Dean Elgar's century and a quick-fire unbeaten 68 from Quinton de Kock lifted South Africa to 297 for six on the opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka at Newlands on Monday.
Dale Steyn will join a select group of bowlers to claim 400 wickets with the South African paceman requiring four scalps in the two-Test series against Bangladesh to reach the milestone.
Virat Kohli (fourth), Shikhar Dhawan (seventh) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (ninth) have also maintained their respective positions in the ICC ODI batting chart.
India's premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin may be back in the mix after being dropped in the first two games and South Africa batting coach Neil McKenzie feels that the tweaker would be a preferred choice against his team.
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