Pakistan with a valiant opening stand between Shan Masood and Babar Azam made a match out of it in the second Test in Cape Town while Australia qualified for the World Test Championship final after beating 3-1 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Here's a look at the top 10 sports stories on January 6.

Pakistan staged a valiant fightback in their second innings after being bowled out for 194 in the first. Following-on, Pakistan almost had a spotless finish to the day before they lost Babar Azam in the wee hours of the third day. The visitors are still 208 runs behind South Africa.

Shan Masood has etched his name into the history books by becoming the first Pakistan captain to hit a Test hundred in South Africa. Shan went unbeaten on 102 at stumps on Day 3 after the Men in Green were asked to follow on in the second Test against the Proteas.

45 players were retained ahead of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) draft by six teams. Six players were relegated one category lower while nine overseas players were retained with the rest being the local ones. The 2025 edition of the PSL is set to take place in the April-May window.

Marco Jansen picked 6 wickets to bowl out Pakistan to 237 in their second innings and put South Africa on the path to an easy chase of 148-run target. However, Pakistan picked three quick wickets to keep the game alive ahead of Day 4 at SuperSport Park.

SA vs PAK Pitch Report: After a memorable and dominant ODI series win, Pakistan will face their biggest challenge in Test cricket in the first match against South Africa at SuperSport Park in Centurion starting on December 26.

The star batter was dropped from Pakistan's squad during the Test series against England at home after a poor run of form in red-ball cricket in 2024. Babar replaces struggling opener Abdullah Shafique in the playing XI for the first Test against the Proteas starting on December 26.

Babar Azam scored 228 runs in 6 ODI innings in 2024 but finished 2024 as the No.1 ODI batter in the updated ICC men's batting rankings on Wednesday. The rising youngster Saim Ayub also witnessed a big jump in the latest ODI rankings.

South Africa with a depleted bowling unit but most of the first-choice batting side just weren't good enough against Pakistan as the visitors ended up winning the second ODI and hence, took a 2-0 unassailable series victory after posting a massive score of 329 runs on the board.

SA vs PAK 2nd ODI is set to be played today at the Newlands in Cape Town from 5:30 PM IST. Pakistan are leading the three-match ODI series 1-0 after winning the opener by just three wickets chasing down 240. Here's the pitch report at Newlands, Cape Town for second ODI.

South Africa and Pakistan are set to lock horns in the first of a three-match ODI series at the Boland Park in Paarl. The hosts have named a full-strength squad for the series with the Champions Trophy coming up. Here's the pitch report of Boland Park in Paarl.

Babar Azam bagged a duck in the first T20I against South Africa, however, he was looking in good touch in the second against the Proteas. Babar has shattered a world record which earlier belonged to Chris Gayle during the Centurion T20I.

Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam is currently in action in South Africa. Not long ago, he was the only batter to be in the top five of the ICC rankings of all formats. However, things have changed quite drastically for him and has now slipped in the T20I rankings as well.

SA vs PAK, 1st T20I: Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan return to T20I setup after being given rest in the recent Zimbabwe tour. Star wicketkeeper batter Heinrich Klaasen leads the South African team in the absence of captain Aiden Markram.

The much-awaited South Africa vs Pakistan (SA vs PAK) T20I series is set to commence today (December 10). The series opener will be played at Kingsmead, Durban and the match is scheduled to start at 9:30 PM IST. Here's how the pitch at the venue will play...

South Africa bereft of a few of their first-choice players, will be up against Pakistan in the first T20I of the three-match series in Durban on Tuesday, December 10. Pakistan have their high-profile names return after skipping the Zimbabwe T20Is and will be keen to topple the Proteas.

"Our focus in ODIs is to continue building momentum ahead of the Champions Trophy, while the T20I series provides a platform to blend experience with emerging talent," Aqib Javed, the PCB selection committee member said.

Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam was the top-scorer for his team in the third and final T20I against Australia in Hobart. He scored 41 runs off 28 balls and in the process, surpasses Virat Kohli in a massive T20I record. He is within touching distance of crossing Rohit Sharma as well.

AUS vs PAK 3rd T20I Pitch Report: After securing a series win with a dominant performance in Sydney, the Australian cricket team is set to host the struggling Pakistani side in the third and final match of the series at Bellerive Oval in Hobart on Monday.

Rain forced the opening T20I game between Australia and Pakistan to a seven-over affair at Brisbane Cricket Ground. Australia posted a big total of 93 for 4 while batting first but Pakistan's batting collapsed to set an embarrassing record.