Blast from the past: Mwelase bobs and weaves his way to Commonwealth gold

1889 — Left-arm medium pacer Gobo Ashley takes seven wickets as South Africa bowl out England for 292 in the second and final Test at Newlands. English opener Bobby Abel, who made 120, became the first batsman to score a century in South Africa.

1907 — South African-born Andrew Jeptha becomes the first boxer of colour to win a British boxing title when he knocks out Curly Watson, the British Empire and English welterweight champion, in the fourth round of their scheduled 20-rounder at Mile End in London. Jeptha, who boxed in Cape Town from 1895 to 1901, furthered his career in England but suffered a detached retina in one of his ring wars. Fighting too soon after undergoing surgery to correct the problem didn’t help, and he ended up going blind.

1972 — Brenda Kirk and Pat Pretorius fight back to give South Africa a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in the final to claim the Federation Cup at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. This was the first time a country other than Australia and the US had won the competition since it started in 1963. The first singles match ended inside an hour as No 1 Pretorius lost to English star Virginia Wade 3-6 2-6. In the second singles contest Kirk was in trouble against Winnie Shaw, down 2-4 in the second set after losing the first. But “Spider”, as Kirk was known, hit back to win the match 4-6 7-5 6-0. Kirk and Pretorius, who were both born in Rhodesia, teamed up for the deciding doubles showdown, beating Wade and Joyce Williams 6-1 7-5. Straight after the triumph, Kirk said: “I never drink, but tonight is party night! You name it, I’m going to drink it.”

1972 — Brenda Williams becomes the first South African woman to score a Test century as she makes a match-saving 100 in the second innings on the second day of the third and final Test at the Wanderers to wipe out a 95-run first-innings deficit. Lorna Ward took the third fifer of her career, taking a career best 6/48 in New Zealand’s first innings. The match ended in a draw on the third and final day, with the visitors winning the series 1-0.

2001 — Darren Fichardt claims the first of his five European Tour victories as he cards a final-round 67 for an 18-under-par 195 to win the weather-disrupted Brazilian Open in Sao Paulo by six shots.

2006 — Bongani Mwelase becomes South Africa’s first Commonwealth Games boxing champion of the post-isolation era when he outpoints Mahimal Viljender of India 33-26 in the welterweight final in Melbourne. The triumph also made Mwelase South Africa’s first black Games boxing gold medallist. He might have achieved Olympic success too, but instead turned professional soon afterwards. Meanwhile, Viljender went on to win India’s first-ever Olympic boxing medal, a bronze, at the 2008 Beijing Games.

2006 — Also at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, hurdler LJ van Zyl ran the final leg of the 4x400m relay. He took the baton in fifth place and gave chase, but came out of the final bend boxed in. So Van Zyl, who had won the 400m hurdles crown a few days earlier, moved to the outside on the home straight to overtake rivals from Jamaica, England and Nigeria and secure the silver medal for South Africa.

2011 — The Proteas crash out of the World Cup, losing their quarterfinal against New Zealand in Mirpur by 49 runs. Chasing 222 for victory, South Africa were dismissed for 172, with only four batsmen making double figures, the best of them Jacques Kallis on 47.

2014 — Alviro Petersen, resuming on 96, and JP Duminy, on 76, both go on to score centuries in the weather-shortened third Test against New Zealand in Wellington. Petersen made 156 and Duminy 103 before South Africa declared their first innings for 474/9.

2014 — Trisha Chetty top-scores with 30 to lift the South African women to 115/9 on their way to losing this T20 World Cup match against Australia in Sylhet by six wickets.

2015 — Bafana Bafana beat Swaziland 3-1 in a friendly in Mbabane. All four goals came in the second half. Thulani Hlatshwayo headed in the first, with Thabo Mnyamane netting the second before Felix Badenhorst pulled one back for the hosts. Substitute Mandla Masango scored South Africa’s third in the 86th minute.

2016 — Quinton de Kock makes 47 as the Proteas, on 122/8, lose a World T20 group match against the West Indies in Nagpur by three wickets with two balls remaining.

2017 — Bafana Bafana score through two penalties as they beat Guinea-Bissau 3-1 at the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban. Kermit Erasmus and Andile Jali scored from the spot, while Percy Tau was the only South African player to score in open play. Aldair scored for the visitors.

2018 — Morne Morkel takes 5/23 as South Africa bowl out Australia for 107 to win the third Test at Newlands by 322 runs for a 2-1 lead in the four-match series.

2021 — Percy Tau equalises in the 52nd minute to give Bafana Bafana a 1-1 draw against Ghana in an African Nations’ Cup qualifier at FNB Stadium.

2022 — Bafana Bafana play to a goalless draw against Guinea in a friendly in Kortrijk, Belgium.

2023 — David Miller scores 48 off 22 balls to lift the Proteas to 131/8, but they lose the first T20 against the West Indies at Centurion by three wickets. Sisanda Magala took 3/21.

2025 — Lyle Foster and substitute Jayden Adams score in the second half as Bafana Bafana beat Benin 2-0 in a World Cup qualifier in Abidjan.