South Africa's AB de Villiers and Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara will take their battle for the coveted No 1 spot in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen to Sydney when they go head-to-head in the first quarter-final of the World Cup.
A magnificent spell of fast bowling by Dale Steyn saw South Africa inch closer to a historic Test series victory in Australia after the fourth day of the second Test at the MCG in Melbourne on Monday. Set a mediocre 183 to win the match and the three-Test series, South Africa raced to 30 for no loss in six overs.
Australia skipper Ricky Ponting on Tuesday backed Brett Lee to come good against South Africa and said the speedster was still quicker than South Africa's Dale Steyn.
A century from Hashim Amla laid the foundation for home success on Wednesday as South Africa beat New Zealand by 20 runs to win their opening one-day international at Centurion.
Opener Kusal Perera stroked a fluent half-century before Sri Lanka's bowlers produced a brilliant display in the death overs to help their team pull off a thrilling five-run victory against South Africa.
After a dream ODI debut last month, teenaged paceman Mustafizur Rahman announced his Test arrival by claiming three wickets in four balls as Bangladesh bowled out South Africa for 248 on the opening day of the first Test in Chittagong on Tuesday.
South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 87 runs
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's name may be etched in the annals of Mumbai's Wankhede stadium forever.
South Africa paceman Dale Steyn took three wickets for four runs to reduce Bangladesh in their second innings, to 54 for five at close of play on the third day of the second Test on Sunday. Bangladesh, replying to South Africa's record-studded score of 583 for seven declared, were dismissed for 259 and were asked to follow on just after tea.
After eight defeats in 11 outings, Chennai Super Kings will look to give their forgettable campaign a semblance of respectability when they take on in-form Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League in Dubai on Sunday.
Lockie Ferguson's inclusion gave the much-needed impetus to the side, but KKR are still struggling with their star all-rounder Andre Russell who capped yet another flop show with the bat.
Vijay in 11th spot; Kohli falls five places
Opener Aiden Markram made a return to form as he scored 78 to help South Africa into a strong position on the opening day of the second Test against Pakistan at Newlands on Thursday.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore wicketkeeper stole the show from the Chennai Super Kings glovesman with a crucial match-winning run-out off the final ball of the match.
For KKR, the biggest cause of concern will be the availability of big-hitter Andre Russell, who hurt his knee when he dived into the advertisement boards after missing a catch on Saturday.
South Africa's batting coach Dale Benkenstein credited AB de Villiers for changing the momentum as South Africa put up 286, after tottering at 12 for 3, on the opening day of the first Test against India, in Cape Town, on Friday.
The Pakistan-born bowler made an instant impact on his return to the South Africa line-up and his team mates made sure his hard work did not go to waste as they finished the day on 128 for three wickets, a 29-run first innings lead.
A selection of musings from around the cricket World Cup
Both DC and RCB have looked solid so far and are placed atop the standings with three wins out of four games each.
The dew factor will go out of the window but the searing heat will be an issue when Royal Challengers Bangalore take on a better prepared Rajasthan Royals in the first of the 10 IPL double-headers, in Abu Dhabi, on Saturday.
For the Proteas, the emphasis is on all 15 players instead of 11.
IPL has helped English cricket grow and is best tournament after World Cups, feels English 'keeper Jos Buttler.
He is the only Indian to make the list that includes three South Africans including record-breaking captain AB de Villiers. Check out the team...
He is on an 18-match unbeaten streak as India's Test captain, but Virat Kohli was left out of the ICC Test Team of the Year.
South Africa captain Hashim Amla feels frustrated over 'bizarre' rain-hit series against Bangladesh.
Six out of the 10 days in the entire series were thus lost to rain, questioning the logic behind scheduling the tour during monsoon season
South Africa need to put aside the fallout from their decision to overlook AB de Villiers and their injury issues when they face the West Indies in the Cricket World Cup on Monday, said key bowler Kagiso Rabada.
Kohli's India are ranked second in the world and will be firm favourites as they begin their quest for a third World Cup triumph against South Africa
Marlon Samuels was out for 94 as West Indies finished on 281-4 against South Africa in the first Test.
Rabada, in a recent interview to a cricket website, had recalled an incident during an IPL game when he felt that Kohli lacked maturity.
India fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat claimed a Rs 11.5 crore deal with the usually thrifty Rajasthan Royals even as South African pace ace Dale Steyn went unsold on the second day of the Indian Premier players' auction in Bengaluru, on Sunday.
Opener Quinton de Kock smashed 84 as a weakened South Africa crushed Zimbabwe by seven wickets to complete a whitewash in their three-match ODI series at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo on Thursday.
Rajneesh Gupta highlights important numbers featuring the South African team from the World Cups.
Kohli, the IPL's highest scorer with 5,878 runs, is set to open the innings to give his team the early momentum.
South African pacer Vernon Philander feels losing pacer Morne Morkel to injury has compounded matters for his team in the opening Test against India.
The Proteas bowlers took part in a thorough session under the watchful eyes of Langeveldt with the aim of increasing their workloads and mapping out expectations and game plans ahead of the 72-day tour which starts with the first Twenty20 match in Dharamsala on October 2.
Images from Day 3 of the first Test between Australia and South Africa in Perth on Saturday.
Faf du Plessis said, "Now we can trust the system a little bit more and just focus on playing cricket."
The margin of victory was big enough to be called dominant but South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said he was quite nervous about defending 208 against India in the opening Test.
