1899 — England-born spinner Bonnor Middleton takes 5/51 as the South African cricket team bowls out England for 237, leaving themselves a target of 132 runs to win the first Test at the old Wanderers. But the hosts were dismissed for 99 to lose by 32 runs.
1914 — Left-arm spinner Claude Carter takes 6/50 to help South Africa bowl out England for 163 for a seven-run first-innings lead in the fourth Test at Lord’s in Durban.
1949 — Eric Rowan scores an unbeaten 86 as South Africa reach stumps on 194/4 to draw the fourth Test against England at the Wanderers, still 0-1 down in the five-match series.
1951 — Bobby Locke’s 14-year unbeaten run on South African soil comes to an end as he loses the semifinal of the Mills matchplay tournament at Kensington to Otway Hayes 1 up. Locke narrowly missed his eagle putt attempt that would have levelled matters on the 18th hole. That was the first time he lost a professional tournament in South Africa and his first defeat at home since losing, as a teenager, to Steve Boshoff in the 1936 Transvaal amateur championship also at Kensington, a Johannesburg course that no longer exists. Hayes, who went on to win the tournament and £300, was the father of Dale, another successful professional golfer.
1952 — The Springboks finish off their tour of the UK and France unbeaten in all Tests as they down France 25-3 in Colombes. The visitors scored six tries, with winger Paul Johnstone dotting down twice and legendary skipper Hennie Muller going over once. It was their second biggest margin of victory after the 44-0 drubbing of Scotland in their opening Test of the tour.
1966 — Jeppe Girls High pupil Ann Fairlie clocks the fastest 110-yard backstroke time in South Africa as she beats Olympic silver medallist Kiki Caron of France in an invitation gala at the Hillcrest swimming pool in Pretoria. Fairlie was timed at 69.1 sec, just 0.4 outside the 68.7 world record Kimberley schoolgirl Karen Muir had set in England the previous year. Caron, runner-up in the 100m and 200m backstroke events at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, had just arrived in the country for a series of galas that would also feature Muir and Olympic champion Cathy Ferguson of the US.
1996 — Gary Kirsten hits a record 188 not out in South Africa’s opening World Cup match against the United Arab Emirates in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, guiding his team to a crushing 169-run victory. His effort made him the top-scoring South African in a one-day international, eclipsing the unbeaten 169 hit by Dave Callaghan against New Zealand at Centurion in December 1994. It remains to this day, with Faf du Plessis having come closest with 185 against Sri Lanka in February 2017.
1998 — Benni McCarthy scores four goals in the opening 21 minutes to give Bafana Bafana a 4-0 victory over Namibia in their final Africa Cup of Nations group match in Burkina Faso. McCarthy’s hat-trick, which came in the 19th minute, was the first for South Africa. To date he remains the only South African to have scored an international hat-trick. The win was also sweet revenge, having lost to Namibia in a friendly the previous month.
2003 — Herschelle Gibbs scores 143 to lift the Proteas to 306/6, but it’s not enough as New Zealand, chasing a revised target of 226 runs off 39 overs, win their World Cup encounter at the Wanderers by nine wickets.
2018 — Khaya Zondo makes 54 as the Proteas are bowled out for 204 on their way to losing the sixth and final ODI against India at Centurion by eight wickets and the series 1-5.
2018 — Sune Luus scores 33 as the South African women total 142/7, but they lose the second T20 in East London by nine wickets.
2019 — In a gripping finale, Sri Lanka edge the Proteas by one wicket to take a 1-0 lead after the opening Test in Durban. Chasing 304 for victory, the visitors seemed in trouble at 226/9, but an unbeaten 153 by Kusal Perera and tail-ender Vishwa Fernando’s six not out got them over the finish line on the fourth day.
2019 — Behind on the judges’ scorecards, DeeJay Kriel knocks out Carlos Licona to win the IBF strawweight crown in Los Angeles. Kriel, who moved to Las Vegas to further his boxing career, had only three amateur fights, which he lost. He also lost his professional debut in 2014, but claimed the world title in his 17th paid bout.
2020 — Heinrich Klaasen scores 66 off 33 balls, but the Proteas, on 222/6, lose the third and final T20 against England at Centurion by five wickets as well as the series 1-2.
2024 — An under-strength Proteas are beaten by New Zealand in a series for the first time as they lose the second and final Test in Hamilton by seven wickets, going down 0-2.
2024 — Sivenathi Nontshinga becomes the first South African to reclaim a world title in an immediate rematch, stopping Mexican Adrian Curiel in the 10th round in Oaxaca.
2024 — Pieter Coetzé powers across the final lap to take bronze in the men’s 200m backstroke at the unseasonal world championships in Doha. The 19-year-old had been the last to come out of the final turn, but he torpedoed the final 50 metres in 28.67 sec — faster than all his rivals — to touch in a 1 min 55.99 sec personal best, behind Spaniard Hugo Gonzalez in 1:55.30 and Roman Mityukov of Switzerland in 1:55.40. That was South Africa’s only medal at the gala.
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