Records tumbled and a major milestone was met when South Africa thumped Gambia 4-0 in their African Cup of Nations qualifier in Bakau on Saturday. Thamsanqa Gabuza and Keagan Dolly each scored a brace in a fine victory that comes too late to get the country to the finals in Gabon next year‚ but could act as a spur ahead of the World Cup qualifiers that are scheduled to begin in October.The victory is the biggest away win ever for the national side‚ eclipsing the 4-1 thumping of Namibia at the 1998 Nations Cup finals. On that day teenager Benni McCarthy scored a remarkable four goals in 13 first half minutes for what remains the only hat-trick ever in a national team jersey.Gabuza will probably feel he should have registered the second of those on Saturday‚ but also cannot be disappointed with his display.The win also matched Bafana’s previous best score in Nations Cup matches‚ both qualifiers and finals games‚ when they defeated Chad 4-0 at home in 2007.Nasief Morris netted a penalty that day to go with a brace from Sibuisiso Zuma and a further goal from Siyabona Nomvethe.Saturday’s game is victory number 149 for Bafana since readmission to international football in 1992‚ those wins coming from a total of 340 matches. The match also made Shakes Mashaba the first coach to lead Bafana in 50 international matches.He had long since moved past the previous record holder Clive Barker (43 games) but has now brought up his half-century.His total is made up of two caretaker stints in charge in 1992 and 2001‚ as well as a 17-month reign between 2002 and 2003 that ended just before the Nations Cup finals in Tunisia in 2004.Of those 50 games he has won 28‚ drawn 17 and lost only five. The problem for Mashaba‚ though‚ is the defeats have come at crucial times in his tenures.- TMG Digital..