1907 — South African skipper Percy Sherwell scores the country’s first century on foreign soil, hitting 115 in the follow-on innings in the first Test against England at Lord’s, South Africa’s first match abroad.
1921 — Brian Norton becomes the first South African to get into the men’s singles final at Wimbledon, and takes defending champion Bill Tilden the distance as he goes down in five sets 6-4 6-2 1-6 0-6 5-7. But it was a match Norton might have won, failing to convert two match points in the final set. Officially he remains the only South African to have reached the men’s final, with Kevin Curren having switched nationality to the US by the time he appeared on centre court in 1985.
1929 — South Africa and England play to a draw in the second cricket Test at Lord’s, the visitors were on 90/5 when stumps are drawn.
1935 — South Africa claim their maiden cricket Test triumph in England — in their 20th attempt — winning the second match at Lord’s by 157 runs for a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. Opener Bruce Mitchell, resuming on 129, made an unbeaten 164 on the final day before South Africa declared on 278/7. Chud Langton and Xen Balaskas took four wickets each as they bowled out the home side for 151.
1960 — Sandra Reynolds is the first South African woman to reach the Wimbledon ladies final, but the 21 year old is beaten 6-8 0-6 by defending champion Maria Bueno of Brazil. Bueno and Reynolds met again in the women’s doubles final later in the day. The Brazilian and her American partner Darlene Hard downed Reynolds and her compatriot, Renee Schuurman, 6-4 6-0. Also on the same day, Rodney Mandlestam came back from one set down to beat Jaidip Mukerjea of India 1-6 8-6 6-4 for the boys’ singles crown, but Lynne Hutchings lost 4-6 4-6 to Karen Hantze for the girls’ title.
1966 — Three weeks after being shot, Sea Cottage finishes fourth in the Durban July, which attracted a then record tote of more than R1m. The race was won by another of trainer Syd Laird’s horses, Java Head, though the jockey of Sea Cottage complained afterwards they had been robbed of likely victory when they were bumped at a crucial point in the race.
1977 — Bob Hewitt and Greer Stevens win the Wimbledon mixed doubles crown, downing fellow-South African Frew McMillan and his Dutch partner Betty Stove in the final 3-6 7-5 6-4.
1983 — Nkosana “Happy Boy” Mgxaji, past his best at 33, delivers a last hurrah as he dethrones Arthur Mayisela for the South African junior-welterweight title at Mdantsane Stadium in East London. Mgxaji had been stripped of the belt after failing to make the weight in 1979, and had lost two subsequent attempts to win it back in 1981 and 1982. His reign would be short-lived, with Mayisela returning to East London early the after year to reclaim the crown.
1989 — Brian Mitchell makes the eighth defence of his WBA junior-lightweight title when he wins a technical decision over American Jackie Beard after the fight is stopped on a cut in the ninth round in Crotone, Italy.
1996 — The Springboks, captained by Francois Pienaar and featuring most of the 1995 World Cup heroes, score five tries as they beat Fiji 43-18 in a one-off Test at Loftus Versfeld for their 15th consecutive win, South Africa’s longest run of victories at the time.
1998 — Jacques Kallis scores an unbeaten 117 on the opening day of the third Test against England in Manchester.
2005 — Wesley Moodie and Kiwi partner Stephen Huss become the first qualifiers to win the Wimbledon men’s double title, downing second seeds Bob and Mike Bryan of the US 7-6 (4) 6-3 6-7 (2) and 6-3 in the final. The duo, who had played together only once before in a challenger event, earned about R2.6m, more than 10 times their combined doubles earnings for the year up to that point.
2017 — Dane van Niekerk takes four wickets without conceding a run and Marizanne Kapp 4/14 as the South African women’s cricket team bowl out the West Indies for 48 to set up a 10-wicket win in their World Cup group match in Leicester. Van Niekerk’s performance made her the first bowler in international cricket to take four wickets without giving away a run and the victory with 262 balls remaining remains the team’s biggest margin of victory in an ODI.
2017 — A makeshift Bafana Bafana side is beaten 0-1 by Tanzania in their Cosafa Cup quarterfinal at the Royal Bafokeng stadium. Elias Maguri scored the winner in the 18th minute. The South African line-up had boasted just five international caps between them.
2021 — The Springboks run in six tries to beat Georgia 40-9 in a one-off Test at Loftus Versfeld. The second Test between the two teams scheduled for a week later was cancelled after several members of the South African camp tested positive for Covid-19.
2023 — Zakithi Nene wins his first Diamond League race, clocking 45.30 sec over 400m in Stockholm. Akani Simbine won the 100m in 10.03.
2023 — Sivenathi Nontshinga drops Filipino Regie Suganob early en route to a unanimous points victory to retain his IBF junior-flyweight title in East London.
2024 — Thabang Sibanyoni scores in the third minute as South Africa beat Eswatini 1-0 in their Cosafa Cup match at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
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