1932 — Xen Balaskas makes an unbeaten 122 as South Africa make 410 in the second and final Test against New Zealand in Wellington.
1957 — Hugh Tayfield takes six wickets as South Africa bowl out England for 130 to win the fifth and final Test at St George’s Park by 58 runs and draw the series 2-2.
1977 — Welsh driver Tom Pryce and a teenage fire marshal are killed in a freak accident during the South African Grand Prix at Kyalami. Pryce’s Shadow teammate, Renzo Zorzi, stopped on the outside of the track opposite the marshal’s post, and his car caught fire. He jumped out safely and activated the car’s own fire-extinguishing system. Two marshals, however, ran across the track to assist. The first got there safely, but Frederick “Frikkie” Jansen van Vuuren, a 19-year-old clerk at Jan Smuts Airport, as OR Tambo was then known, was struck by Pryce travelling at about 270km/h and the extinguisher he was carrying hit the driver on the head. Pryce’s helmet disintegrated in the crash, and spectators saw his head slumped sideways and blood spurting from the cockpit. Both men were killed instantly. Pryce’s car, however, continued down the straight for about 1km before crashing into the Ligier driven by Frenchman Jacques Lafitte at Crowthorne Corner. Marshals were later instructed to keep curious fans away from the scene of the accident after some had been spotted taking pieces of wreckage, presumably as macabre souvenirs. The fire extinguisher, which flew upwards after the impact, was later found in a car park about 100m away. Niki Lauda, who survived a devastating crash the previous year, won the race ahead of South Africa’s Jody Scheckter, who moved to the top of the championship standings. Lauda, out of respect for Pryce, declined to perform the usual celebratory gesture of spraying champagne. Pryce, 27, was the 55th driver to be killed in grand prix racing in just 13 years. Local race organisers were blamed for lack of adequate protocols, which included not having marshals on both sides of the track, and Britain’s reigning world champion James Hunt, who finished fourth, suggested a team of trained marshals travel with the F1 circus to ensure a high standard of safety at each race around the world.
1992 — South Africa, recently back from international isolation, take on the mighty West Indies for the first time, facing off in a World Cup match in Christchurch, New Zealand. Having lost to New Zealand and Sri Lanka in their previous two outings, expectations were not overly high against a side brimming with legends such as Desmond Haynes, Richie Richardson, Carl Hooper, Malcolm Marshall, Curtly Ambrose and a young Brian Lara. South Africa were put in to bat first, and Peter Kirsten scored 56 to steer South Africa to 200/8. Then the South African bowlers turned West Indian as they dismissed their opponents for 136. Meyrick Pringle took 4/11, Allan Donald 1/13 and Richard Snell 2/16.
1996 — Andrew Hudson scores 161 from 132 balls as the Proteas, on 328/3, beat the Netherlands by 160 runs in a World Cup match in Rawalpindi.
2005 — Jacques Freitag, the reigning world high-jump champion, improves the South African record to 2.38m in Oudtshoorn.
2005 — Nicky Boje takes four wickets as South Africa bowl out Zimbabwe for 265 to win the first Test at Newlands on the second day by an innings and 21 runs.
2006 — Shaun Pollock scores 69 and AB de Villiers 68 as the Proteas are bowled out for 230 to lose the third ODI against Australia at St George’s Park by 24 runs, reducing their lead in the five-match series to 2-1.
2011 — Kaizer Mabuza is stopped in the seventh round by American star Zab Judah for the vacant IBF junior-welterweight title in Newark.
2014 — Bafana Bafana suffer their worst defeat as they go down 0-5 to Brazil in a friendly at FNB Stadium. Neymar scored a hat-trick on the night, running through the South African defence as if they weren’t there in a match that was the final fixture of the South American nation’s world tour before hosting the World Cup later that year.
2014 — Vernon Philander makes an unbeaten 51 as South Africa are bowled out for 265 to lose the third and final Test against Australia at Newlands by 245 runs and, with it, the series 1-2.
2018 — Quinton de Kock, resuming on 81 with South Africa on 293/9, is dismissed for 83 as South Africa are bowled out to lose the first Test against Australia at Kingsmead by 118 runs.
2019 — Australia take a 1-0 lead in the Test series when they beat the Proteas by 118 runs in the first five-dayer in Durban. The hosts needed 417 to win in their second innings but were bowled out for 298. The only resistence came from opener Aiden Markram with 143 and wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock on 83. Only one other batsman, Theunis de Bruyn, reached double figures.
2020 — Laura Wolvaardt scores 41 off 27 balls as the South African women are stranded on 92/5 to lose their rain-affected T20 World Cup semifinal against Australia in Sydney by five runs on Duckworth-Lewis.
2022 — Ayabonga Khaka takes 4/32 as the South African women dismiss Bangladesh for 175 to win their World Cup match in Dunedin by 32 runs.
2025 — David Miller scores an unbeaten 100 off 67 balls, but it’s not enough as the Proteas lose their Champions Trophy semifinal against New Zealand in Lahore by 50 runs. Needing 363 to win, South African skipper Temba Bavuma scored 56 and Rassie van der Dussen 69.
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