Hazlewood's six for 49 sinks South Africa as Rabada nears Test return

Hazlewood stars as Australia rout South Africa

Josh Hazlewood posted a career-best six for 49 to bowl out South Africa for 206 as Australia won the first Test in Durban by 214 runs.

Matt Renshaw was named player of the match. South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said Kagiso Rabada is progressing well after his hamstring injury and is in line to return for the second Test, which starts Sunday at St George's Park in Gqeberha. Rabada has not played since May, and reports suggest Anrich Nortje could be the one to make way if Rabada is passed fit.

The series continues with a third Test at Newlands in Cape Town starting October 27. England, meanwhile, are preparing for a two-match Test series in Bangladesh in February, after their own series in South Africa in December.

Natarajan returns to Sunrisers in IPL trade

Sunrisers Hyderabad have traded for left-arm pacer T Natarajan from Delhi Capitals, sending leg-spinner Zeeshan Ansari to Delhi in exchange. Natarajan returns to the franchise where he took 19 wickets in IPL 2024 and helped them reach the final, this time for five crore rupees, down from the 10.75 crore Delhi paid for him at the 2025 auction. Ansari moves to Delhi at his existing fee of 40 lakh rupees.

Elsewhere in the trade market, CricTracker reports that Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals are no longer in active talks on a Hardik Pandya-for-Yashasvi Jaiswal swap, with the November 15 retention deadline approaching. According to the report, Mumbai want their coaching setup finalized before tackling the captaincy question, and Jaiswal remains under contract with the Royals for at least one more season.

Delhi Capitals also added Yuvraj Singh as assistant and batting coach, his first formal coaching role. The move reunites him with Sourav Ganguly, named Delhi's head coach last week, and returns him to the franchise that paid a then-record 16 crore rupees for him in 2015. Yuvraj played 304 one-day internationals, 40 Tests and 58 T20 internationals for India.

Sri Lanka avoid whitewash as Mendis fires

Sri Lanka won the third T20I against Pakistan by eight wickets, chasing 169 in 17.1 overs behind Kusal Mendis's unbeaten 87, his career-best in the format. Pakistan had already sealed the three-match series 2-1 after winning the first two games.

Sahibzada Farhan was named player of the series after scoring 238 runs, the most by a Full-Member batter in a three-match T20I series. In the ICC men's T20I team rankings, Pakistan lost one rating point after the defeat in the third match while remaining sixth, and Sri Lanka gained one to end the series with 221 points in ninth.

Abhishek Sharma powers India past West Indies

India took the third T20I against West Indies by 14 runs behind Abhishek Sharma's 69 off 30 balls, moving 2-1 up in the five-match series ahead of the fourth game in Hyderabad. The innings made Abhishek the sixth Indian to reach 2,000 T20I runs and the fastest in men's cricket to do so by balls faced, needing 1,024 to beat Suryakumar Yadav's old mark.

Former India batter Cheteshwar Pujara compared Abhishek to Chris Gayle, saying that when people think of the T20 format, they immediately think of Gayle, and that Abhishek has that kind of ability. Abhishek has hit 68 sixes in T20Is this year, matching Suryakumar Yadav's tally.

England moving away from Jack Leach, selector says

England chief selector Marcus North said the team is focusing on a slightly different direction than Jack Leach despite the spinner taking 36 wickets for Somerset in the County Championship this season. Leach has taken 142 wickets in 39 Tests overall at an average of 34.07.

North instead named Shoaib Bashir, Rehan Ahmed, Mason Crane and Liam Patterson-White as the spinners on central or development contracts, with Dan Lawrence currently filling the spin role in the Test side alongside Joe Root.

BCCI chief: fitness, not age, should decide Kohli and Rohit's fate

BCCI president Mithun Manhas said Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's places for the 2027 ODI World Cup should come down to fitness and performance rather than age. He told Sportstar that having Kohli, Rohit and Hardik Pandya around would also help Shubman Gill handle the pressures of captaincy, with Jasprit Bumrah leading the bowling group.

Mumbai and Bengal make early Ranji statements

The Ranji Trophy's opening round wrapped up with Mumbai, the most successful team in the competition's history with 42 titles, beating Chandigarh by an innings and 155 runs behind Tushar Deshpande's seven for 54.

Bengal beat Delhi by nine wickets behind centuries from Abhishek Porel and Sandip Kumar Gharami and a four-wicket haul from Mohammed Shami, while Karnataka and Tamil Nadu both settled for draws.

Allan Donald joins Joburg Super Kings for SA20

Joburg Super Kings have brought in Allan Donald as bowling coach, replacing Eric Simons, who has moved to the England setup. Donald will work under new head coach Albie Morkel after Stephen Fleming also departed for England.

The SA20's fifth season starts January 17 in Gqeberha, with the final in Cape Town on February 21.