De Villiers faces biggest challenge of his career

Johannesburg
AB de Villiers faces the biggest challenge of a glittering career when he captains South Africa in the third Test against England, starting at the Wanderers Stadium on Thursday.
Arguably the world's best batsman - he is ranked third in Tests and first in one-day internationals - De Villiers, 31, made no secret of his ambition to captain the South African Test team following the retirement of Graeme Smith in 2014.
But Cricket South Africa decided to appoint Hashim Amla instead, with De Villiers continuing to lead the one-day side.
Now De Villiers has the job he wanted, following the surprise resignation of Amla after the second Test last week - but only for the remaining two matches of the series.
A long-term appointment will probably not be made for some time, with South Africa not due to play another Test series until they meet New Zealand in August.
De Villiers takes over at a difficult time. Despite fighting back strongly to draw the second Test in Cape Town, South Africa have gone eight Test matches and more than a year without a win.
England lead the series 1-0 and South Africa will lose their number one Test ranking unless they can earn at least a share of the series honours.
The Wanderers has traditionally favoured fast bowlers, but the bowling firepower at De Villiers' disposal has been severely depleted by injuries to Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander.
As was the case in the second Test, it leaves Morne Morkel as the only experienced bowler in the line-up.
The bowlers took some severe punishment at the hands of Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow at Newlands, although they performed better in the second innings.
Picking the right bowling line-up will be a key factor for South Africa, with Kyle Abbott and the uncapped Hardus Viljoen, who plays for the Wanderers-based Lions franchise, coming under consideration.
There is also a possibility that South Africa might decide to go without specialist spin bowler Dane Piedt, which could mean a recall for batsman and part-time spinner JP Duminy.
England, meanwhile, have no selection dilemmas following strong performances in both Test matches so far. The only player in their side who has not made at least one significant contribution is captain Alastair Cook, who has made just 42 runs in four innings.
Teams: South Africa (likely): AB de Villiers (captain), Dean Elgar, Stiaan van Zyl, Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (wkt), Morne Morkel, Kagiso Rabada, Dane Piedt or JP Duminy, Chris Morris or Kyle Abbott or Hardus Viljoen.
England (likely): Alastair Cook (captain), Alex Hales, Nick Compton, Joe Root, James Taylor, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow (wkt), Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn, James Anderson.
Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI), Chris Gaffaney (NZL)
TV umpire: Rod Tucker (AUS)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI). - AFP

Pakistan T20 captain Shahid Afridi was saved of much embarrassment when a fan stepped in to pay for his meal at a fast food joint in Auckland after the flamboyant cricketer realised that he was not carrying local currency.
Afridi and teammate Ahmed Shehzad had gone to buy meals at a McDonald's restaurant inside the Auckland airport on Monday.
The players, however, were carrying US dollars instead of local currency with them. And after the restaurant did not accept the money offered by the them, a fan - Waqas Naveed - paid Afridi's bill.
"There was this young man behind us in the line and he offered to pay for us insisting it was his way of welcoming us to New Zealand," Afridi said. But the all-rounder said he was disappointed that the entire episode was recorded by someone in the restaurant and the media had been playing it.
"Had us dollars which they wasent taking at nz airport:) but glad 1nce again our media entertaining all of u," he tweeted.
The fan, Waqas, said he paid the bill to welcome the players as he was a big fan of the Pakistan team
But for Afridi, the minor incident became another gaffe as just before leaving for New Zealand, he was embroiled in a spat with the media during the training camp in Lahore.
Afridi had given a dismissive reply to a reporter and this snowballed into a controversy with the media protesting at the Gaddafi stadium and demanding an apology.
Later Afridi didn't help matters by attending a function in Karachi on the eve of his team's departure and saying tongue in cheek that the Karachi media loved him. - PTI