Blast from the past: Williams makes his Mark as Bafana win Africa Cup of Nations

1962 — Jackie McGlew, resuming on 62, scores 120 as South Africa reach 464 in the fourth Test at the Wanderers for a first-innings lead of 300.

1984 — Simon Skosana dethrones Phindile Gaika as South African bantamweight champion on points over 12 rounds. Skosana went on to challenge unsuccessfully for a world title.

1996 — Bafana Bafana win the Africa Cup of Nations in front of 80,000 fans at FNB Stadium. Substitute Mark Williams scored two goals in three minutes to give South Africa a 2-0 win over Tunisia. Williams had been on the field for just eight minutes when he netted his first goal. President Nelson Mandela, as he’d done at the Rugby World Cup final several months earlier, handed over the trophy to the victorious skipper, Neil Tovey.

1999 — Lance Klusener takes four wickets, but the Proteas are unable to finish off Australia, drawing the final third Test in Adelaide to lose the series 0-1. The hosts, needing 361 to win, reached stumps on 227/7. The visitors dropped 10 catches in the match and lost an appeal to have Mark Waugh, the local hero on an unbeaten 115, dismissed after he had dislodged his bails. Furious skipper Hansie Cronje hit the umpire’s door with a stump after the match. 

2002 — Jacques Kallis scores his maiden ODI century against Australia, notching up an unbeaten 104 off 120 balls in Perth. He was South Africa’s top scorer by far in the chase of the 284-run target, with Herschelle Gibbs next best on 34. It wasn’t enough, however, and Australia won by 33 runs. That was Kallis’s seventh ODI century of his career, during which he reached three figures on 17 occasions.

2002 — Bafana Bafana are eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations, going down 0-2 to hosts Mali in the inhospitable town of Kayes, where temperatures have been recorded at 50ºC. Bassala Touré scored in the second half and substitute Drame Coulibaly hammered the final nail into Bafana’s coffin in stoppage time. That was the fourth consecutive time South Africa had made the knockout stage of the competition, but that was also their last time until 2013.

2006 — Johan Botha makes 46 as South Africa are held to 201/9 to lose this tri-series ODI against Australia in Melbourne by 80 runs.

2007 — Cassius Baloyi makes quick work of Nazareno Ruiz of Argentina, stopping him in the third round to reclaim the vacant IBO junior-lightweight title at Carnival City.

2008 — Herschelle Gibbs scores 102 off 84 balls as the Proteas chase down the target, revised to 211 because of rain, to beat the West Indies by eight wickets in the final fifth ODI at the Wanderers for a 5-0 series whitewash. 

2013 — AB de Villiers, resuming on 53, scores 103 not out as the Proteas declare their second innings on 275/3 in the first Test against Pakistan at the Wanderers.

2013 — Marizanne Kapp scores 61 and Trisha Chetty 59 to lift the South African women to 188/9, but they lose their World Cup match against Australia in Cuttack by three wickets. Shabnim Ismail took 4/41.

2016 — Quinton de Kock scores an unbeaten 138 from 96 balls, but it’s too little as the Proteas lose the weather-hit first ODI to England by 39 runs on Duckworth-Lewis. The visitors made 399/9 in 50 overs, with the home finishing on 250/5 in the 34th over.

2019 — David Miller hammers an unbeaten 65 off 29 balls to lift the Proteas to 188/3 on their way to beating Pakistan by seven runs in the second T20 at the Wanderers for an uncatchable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Andile Phehlukwayo took 3/36.

2019 — Suné Luus takes 5/14 as the South African women dismiss Sri Lanka for 105 on their way to winning the second T20 at the Wanderers by two wickets with one ball remaining.

2021 — Mignon du Preez scores an unbeaten 24 as the South African women are stranded on 68/4 to lose the final third T20 against Pakistan at Kingsmead by eight runs on Duckworth-Lewis. The home side took the series 2-1.

2022 — Laura Wolvaardt scores 117 and Suné Luus 56 as the South African women, totalling 299/8, beat the West Indies by 96 runs in the third ODI at the Wanderers.

2024 — Goalkeeper Ronwen Williams makes four saves in the shoot-out as Bafana Bafana edge Cape Verde 2-1 on penalties in their Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast. The match had ended 0-0 after extra time.

2024 — Marizanne Kapp scores 50 as the South African women are bowled out for 105 on their way to losing the first ODI against Australia in Adelaide by eight wickets.