Blast from the past: Wilson drives the push to crowning glory

Today in SA sports history: October 16

1976 — Desire Wilson becomes only the second woman to win a South African motorsport title, taking the Formula Ford crown in dramatic fashion in Cape Town. In the first heat, her car stopped 100m from the line, but she got out and started pushing. She fell twice as she heaved her machine over the line to finish the race. She failed to complete the second heat.

1994 — Pakistan beat the Proteas by eight wickets in the third match of the Wills Triangular Series, also featuring Australia, in Karachi. Captain Kepler Wessels top-scores with 33 runs from 66 balls as the South Africans stumble to 163/9. Inzamam-ul-Haq (51 not out) and skipper Saleem Malik (62 not out) eased the hosts to the target with 32 balls to spare. Eric Simons and Hansie Cronje took one wicket each. This was the fourth consecutive ODI defeat suffered by the Proteas.

2005 — Donia Kamstra and Alexa Lombard take K2 silver in a tight finish at the ICF Canoe world championships in Perth. The duo clocked 2hr 09 min 39 sec to finish one second behind Hungarian champions Renata Csay and Kornelia Szonda, and one second ahead of bronze medallists Mette Barfod and Anna Lolk of Denmark.

2006 — New Zealand beat the Proteas by 87 runs in an ICC Champions Trophy match in Mumbai. Captain Stephen Fleming struck 89 before the Kiwis were bowled out for 195, with Jacques Kallis taking three wickets and Robin Peterson two. But only three SA batsmen reached double figures — Graeme Smith 42, Justin Kemp an unbeaten 26 and Andrew Hall 13 — in a dismal innings that featured four ducks.

2011 — Rusty Theron (31 not out) and Wayne Parnell (29 not out) stand firm at the Wanderers in Johannesburg to guide the Proteas to 148/7 for a three-wicket win over Australia in the second T20. They drew the series 1-1.