George Lohmann

Muttiah Muralitharan, the most successful bowler in Tests and one-day internationals, was on Thursday inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Muralitharan's nine-wicket haul against B'desh has pushed his tally to 916 points in the ICC Test bowlers rankings.

Spinner Prabath Jayasuriya took 6-42, his ninth five-wicket haul, as New Zealand collapsed 88 all out in the second Test on Saturday in reply to Sri Lanka's mammoth 602-5 declared. Leading batsman Kane Williamson could not tame Sri Lanka's formidable spin attack as Jayasuriya dismissed him in just the third over to trigger the collapse.

Former Australia women's captain Karen Rolton was on Thursday inducted into the ICC's Hall of Fame at a ceremony during the dinner break on the opening day of the third day/night Test between Australia and South Africa.

It's intriguing that South Africa appear four times in the top five lowest team totals in Test cricket. On Valentine's Day in 1896, George Lohmann's remarkable performance saw South Africa stumble to their lowest total (30). Lohmann's devastating bowling display resulted in figures of 8 for 7 in 9.5 overs, complementing his impressive 7 for 38 in the first innings.

The Oval cricket ground, now known as Kennington Oval, is a place for the cricket romantic. For connoisseurs and those steeped in cricket history, it's a venerable ground.

Sri Lanka is nearing a series win over New Zealand, who are at 199-5 after being forced to follow on from their first innings collapse to 88 all out. Debutant Nishan Peiris claimed three vital wickets. Tom Blundell and Glenn Phillips are striving to salvage the game as bad light halted play early.

Fiery pacer Jasprit Bumrah on Wednesday achieved the highest rating points ever by an Indian bowler, leading the ICC Men's Test Bowling Rankings with 907 points. Pat Cummins reached career-best third position as an all-rounder. Steve Smith and several other cricketers progressed in the batting and bowling rankings after recent performances.

The Indian team, which lost the opening Test to Australia in Pune, was unaffected by the debacle at least in the ICC rankings. In fact, opener KL Rahul claimed his career-best ranking of 46th after scores of 64 and 10 in the match.

Joe Root is now number one in ICC Test Batting rankings. He performed well in the Lord's Test. England won against India. Steve Smith also improved his ranking. Scott Boland achieved a career-best sixth position. Shamar Joseph and Washington Sundar also saw ranking improvements. Nuwan Thushara and Rishad Hossain made significant jumps in T20I rankings.

Kohli lost the position to former Australian captain Steve Smith, who is currently serving a one-year ban owing to his role in the ball-tampering scandal against South Africa earlier this year. The India captain played knocks of 23 and 17 even as his side succumbed to 107 and 130 for an innings and 159-run loss at Lord's.

Mitchell Starc delivered a match-winning all-round performance to help Australia clinch the Ashes, securing an unassailable 3-0 series lead. Starc's 3 wickets in the second innings and a crucial half-century capped a historic year, making him the only bowler to take 50 Test wickets in 2025 with an exceptional strike-rate of 28.7, surpassing Waqar Younis's long-standing record.

Australian pacer Scott Boland excelled in the Test series against India, taking 21 wickets in three matches at an average of 13.19, including a ten-wicket haul in the final Test. Boland's performance, highlighted by dismissing Virat Kohli four times, secured him the best bowling average in men's Test cricket since WWI.

India's seven-wicket win over South Africa in the second Test at Cape Town on Thursday was the 25th instance when a Test match ended inside two days, dating back to 1882. This was also the third time India were involved in a two-day Test, with the other two being their match against Afghanistan and England. This is the shortest completed Test match ever in terms of overs bowled (642 balls - 107 overs), bettering the previous best (656 balls - 109.2 overs) that involved Australia and South Africa at the MCG way back in 1932.