1906 — South Africa’s cricketers claim their first-ever series triumph, beating England by 243 runs in the third Test at the Old Wanderers for an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match contest. Maitland Hathorn and Gordon White scored a century in each SA innings, of 385 and 349/5 declared. The hosts’ opening bowler, Tip Snooke, took 8/70 as England, chasing 440 for victory, were bowled out for 196. He finished the match with a haul of 12/127.
1910 — Aubrey Faulkner, resuming on 39, makes 99 in South Africa’s follow-on innings, but it’s not enough to save them as they lose the fifth and final Test at Newlands by nine wickets. The hosts won the series 3-2.
1939 — The one-off “timeless Test” between South Africa and England, which started on March 3, finally ends on the 10th day of play with the visitors needing to catch the boat in Cape Town to get back home. The two Sundays the match fell over were rest days and there was also one day’s play lost because of rain. Both teams agreed to call it a draw in the end, though at the time England were 42 runs away from victory with five wickets standing. England won the series 1-0.
1953 — Russell Endean, resuming on 50, scores 116 in the second Test against New Zealand in Auckland.
1975 — Jan “Big John” van Reenen breaks the discus world record at the Stellenbosch University championships in Coetzenberg, knocking eight centimetres off the three-year-old mark with a 68.48m effort. The Bethlehem-born athlete, a commercial artist who had studied at Washington State University on an athletics scholarship, stood 1.99m tall and weighed 124.7kg.
1990 — Brian Mitchell comfortably outpoints American Jackie Beard in a rematch in Grosetto, Italy, to retain his WBA junior-lightweight crown. Their first bout had ended in a technical decision for the South African after the bout ended on a cut in the ninth round. It was Mitchell’s 10th title defence.
1999 — Herschelle Gibbs, resuming on 113, makes an unbeaten 211 and Jacques Kallis, resuming on 58, scores 148 not out as South Africa declare their first innings on 442/1 in the second Test against New Zealand in Christchurch.
2004 — Jacques Kallis, resuming on 56, makes an unbeaten 150 before South Africa declare on 313/4 to set New Zealand a target of 264 on the final day of the first Test in Hamilton. The match ended in a draw.
2008 — Albie Morkel takes four wickets and his brother Morne one as the Proteas dismiss Bangladesh for 143 in Dhaka to win the final third ODI by seven wickets. Captain Graeme Smith hit an unbeaten 68.
2009 — Trisha Chetty scores an unbeaten 41 as the South African women, needing 76 to win, beat Sri Lanka in the play-off for seventh place at the World Cup in Sydney.
2014 — The Proteas are demolished by Australia in the deciding third T20 at Centurion, losing by six wickets with five overs remaining. SA were restricted to 128/7, with only opener Quinton de Kock making a real impact, scoring 41 from 40 balls.
2021 — Half-centuries by the top four — Lizelle Lee, Laura Wolvaardt, Lara Goodall and Mignon du Preez — help the South African women reach the 267-run target to beat India by seven wickets in the fourth ODI in Lucknow for an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.
2022 — Marizanne Kapp takes 5/45 as the South African women restrict England to 235/9 on their way to beating England by three wickets in their World Cup match in Mount Maunganui. Laura Wolvaardt scored 77.
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