Blast from the past: Williams makes his Mark as Bafana win Africa Cup of Nations

1984 — Simon Skhosana dethrones Pindile Gaika as South African bantamweight champion on points over 12 rounds. Skhosana went on to challenge unsuccessfully for a world title. 

1996 — Bafana Bafana win the Africa Cup of Nations in front of 80,000 fans at FNB Stadium. Substitute Mark Williams scored two goals in three minutes to give South Africa a 2-0 win over Tunisia. Williams had been on the field for just eight minutes when he netted his first goal. President Nelson Mandela, as he’d done at the Rugby World Cup final several months earlier, handed over the trophy to the victorious skipper, Neil Tovey. 

2002 — Jacques Kallis scores his maiden ODI century against Australia, notching up an unbeaten 104 off 120 balls in Perth. He was South Africa’s top scorer by far in the chase of the 284-run target, with Herschelle Gibbs next best on 34. The South Africans fell short, however, and Australia won by 33 runs. That was Kallis’s seventh ODI century of his career, during which he reached three figures on 17 occasions. 

2002 — Bafana Bafana are eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations, going down 0-2 to hosts Mali in the inhospitable town of Kayes, where temperatures have been recorded at 50ºC. Bassala Toure scored in the second half and substitute Drame Coulibaly hammered the final nail into Bafana’s coffin in stoppage time. That was the fourth consecutive time SA had made the knockout stage of the competition, but that was also their last time until 2013. 

2007 — Cassius Baloyi makes quick work of Nazareno Ruiz of Argentina, stopping him in the third round to reclaim the vacant IBO junior-lightweight title at Carnival City. 

2008 — Shaun Pollock plays his final match for South Africa, an ODI against the West Indies at the Wanderers. The Proteas won by eight wickets on Duckworth/Lewis. Pollock finished with one wicket for 33 runs from his 10 overs, and scored an unbeaten 10 runs coming in as a pinch-hitter at four.