Today in SA sport history: May 2
1953 — Johannesburg-born Bill Perry becomes the first South African to win in an FA Cup final and he scores the winning goal in optional time to secure a 4-3 victory for Blackpool over Bolton Wanderers at Wembley. Blackpool had trailed 3-1 at one stage. Perry, whose goal was assisted by Stanley Matthews, had helped his team reach the FA Cup final two years earlier, but they had lost 2-0 to Newcastle.
1981 — Teachers from Waterkloof High refuse to have their rugby team play against a side from Christian Brothers’ College, Mount Edmund, because they are fielding two black players. The match was one of several scheduled between the two schools that day. The Waterkloof deputy principal refused to allow his team to play against a team with black players, and the CBC headmaster responded by cancelling all the games. The one black kid was the son of a former Transkei diplomat and the other the son of the then Malawian ambassador.
2001 — Herschelle Gibbs scores 104 and Jacques Kallis an unbeaten 78 as the Proteas beat the West Indies by eight wickets in the second ODI at St John’s to level the seven-match series at 1-1. The SA bowlers had restricted the hosts to 220/8, with Shaun Pollock taking 1/34 and Kallis 2/38 in their 10-over spells.
2010 — The Proteas lose their World T20 opener to India by 14 runs at Gros Islet in St Lucia. Suresh Raina struck a 60-ball 101 as India posted 186/5. Jacques Kallis top-scored for SA with 73 from 54, but SA were stranded on 172/5 at the end of their innings.
2021 — Akani Simbine powers the SA men’s 4x100m team to gold at the World Relays in Silesia, Poland, only for the team to be disqualified several months later after Thando Dlodlo failed a dope test. Running the final anchor leg, Simbine received the baton from Clarence Munyai in second place, a metre or so behind Brazil, but the SA sprint star hunted down Paulo André Camilo de Oliveira to out-dip him on the line for the victory in 38.71sec. Brazil were later disqualified, promoting Italy to the silver in 39.21. Thando Dlodlo and Gift Leotlela completed an SA team that all hailed from Tuks. SA also finished fifth in the men’s 4x400m relay to qualify for Tokyo Olympics.
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