1936 — Legbreak bowler Bruce Mitchell finishes with 5/87 as Australia are bowled out for 455 in the fifth and final Test at Kingsmead for a first-innings lead of 233.
1957 — Ewart Potgieter, standing 7ft 2in tall, lands a devastating right uppercut to the chin of American Bruce Olson, knocking him out in the sixth round of their bout in Portland, after which his opponent failed to regain consciousness and was taken to hospital with bleeding on the brain. He underwent surgery and survived. The bout, however, was regarded as the sport’s heaviest with an estimated combined mass of 271kg. The scales used could register only up to 300lbs, but it was estimated that Potgieter weighed 335lbs (151kg).
1991 — Dingaan Thobela makes the first defence of his WBO lightweight title, convincingly outpointing Mexican Mario Martinez in San Jose, California.
1992 — South Africa play Sri Lanka in an ODI for the first time, meeting the Asian side in a World Cup encounter in Wellington, New Zealand. Peter Kirsten top-scored with 47 from 81 balls as South Africa were dismissed for 195. Opener Roshan Mahanama hit 68 and Arjuna Ranatunga an unbeaten 64 from 73 deliveries to steer his team to victory by three wickets with one ball remaining.
1996 — Thulani “Sugar Boy” Malinga survives a sixth-round knockdown to outpoint Englishman Nigel Benn over 12 rounds in Newcastle and lift the WBC super-middleweight title. It was Malinga’s third tilt at a world title, and the win made him the first South African boxer to claim a WBC belt.
1998 — South Africa are bowled out for 225 as Pakistan win the second Test at Kingsmead by 29 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
2002 — Former president Nelson Mandela goes to watch Baby Jake Matlala engage in his final professional boxing fight, stopping Juan Herrera of Colombia in the seventh round at Carnival City to retain his WBU junior-flyweight title. Matlala had actually failed to make the limit at the weigh-in the previous day, but the boxing authorities — including WBU president Jon Robinson and South African commission chairman Dr Peter Ngatane — turned a blind eye at the weigh-in. Matlala, who held four world titles, departed the sport with a record of 53 wins, 13 losses and two draws. There were four other marginal world title bouts on the same card, Silence Mabuza won the IBO bantamweight title when he stopped Jose Sanjuanelo of Colombia in the sixth round, WBU junior-lightweight champion Phillip N’dou stopped Nikolay Eremeev of Russia in the sixth round, WBU cruiserweight champion Sebastiaan Rothmann outpointed Englishman Garry Delaney, and Stephan Carr was stopped in the second round of his bid for the IBO junior-welterweight title by Pablo Sarmiento of Argentina.
2004 — Ashwell Prince scores 47 and tail-ender Makhaya Ntini a career-best 42 not out of 35 balls as the Proteas limp to 186/9 before losing the sixth and final ODI against New Zealand in Napier by five wickets and the series 1-5.
2005 — Justin Kemp scores an unbeaten 78 as the Proteas chase down the 207-run total to beat Zimbabwe by five wickets in the third and final ODI at St George’s Park for a 3-0 series triumph.
2009 — Graeme Smith’s 69 is South Africa’s top score as they’re bowled out by Australia for 291 to lose the first Test at the Wanderers by 162 runs.
2018 — Keshav Maharaj finishes with five wickets as South Africa bowl out Australia for 351 in the first Test at Kingsmead.
2023 — Kagiso Rabada takes 6/50 as the Proteas dismiss the West Indies for 159 to win the first Test at Centurion by 87 runs.
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