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2025 REVIEW: Proteas make test history in rollercoaster year

rugby18 December 2025 13:55
By:Neil Manthorp
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The year was one of South Africa’s best ever. Measured in ICC trophies, it was the best. Becoming World Test Champions is as good as it gets.

Except if you prefer T20 cricket; the Proteas spent much of the year rebuilding, and losing.

ODI cricket was somewhere in between with away series victories against both Australia and England the obvious highlights merging with two or three calamitous, record defeats.

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Unpredictability can confound opponents, but it can confuse those delivering it even more.

The Proteas confirmed their place in the WTC final with a thumping, 10-wicket victory against Pakistan in the New Year test at Newlands with Ryan Rickleton’s 259 and centuries from Temba Bavuma and Kyle Verreynne setting up a monster total of 615 before Kagiso Rabada claimed three wickets in both innings.

It would be six months before the test band reconvened at Lord’s for the final, armed only with a few overs of red ball preparation in rain-affected practise match against Zimbabwe at Arundel Catle.

It hardly seemed to matter when Rabada grabbed 5-51 to dismiss Australia for 212 but the Proteas stumbled to 138 in reply with Pat Cummins taking 6-28.

But Rabada (4-59) wasn’t finished and, with Lungi Ngidi (3-38) putting in a marathon shift to reduce the favourites to 73-7, South Africa were in charge.

But Australia recovered, as they tend to do, making 207 but leaving the Proteas with a target of 282, comfortably the highest score of the match.

History was there to be made, and it was.

Aiden Markram may surpass his 136 on many occasions in the future, but only by runs – never by satisfaction or importance.

And Bavuma, urged by the team’s medical staff to retire hurt with a significantly strained hamstring, hobbled on to make 66 in a match-winning partnership of 147 which he knew, even in the moment, would define his captaincy era.

MULDER GOES BIG

The World Test Champions visited Zimbabwe for two tests just weeks after their triumph, the closest they would come to playing on home soil for a staggering 15 months.

Wiaan Mulder, standing in as captain, made more history (or didn’t) in scoring an unbeaten 367 in the second test before being persuaded to declare in order to preserve Brian Lara’s world record score of 401*.

BOSCH MILESTONE

Corbin Bosch became the first South African since Jacques Kallis 22 years earlier to score a century and take five wickets in a test – and just the fourth overall.

The Proteas exceeded the expectations, perhaps even the hopes of most supporters when they began the defence of their WTC title with a victory in a shared series against Pakistan before sweeping the mighty India away in a remarkable 2-0 series win.

Keshav Maharaj’s match haul of 9-136 was instrumental in beating Pakistan by eight-wickets in Rawalpindi but so was the extraordinary 10th-wicket partnership of 98 between Senuran Muthusamy (89*) and Kagiso Rabada whose 71 was a maiden, belated half century.

MAKING HISTORY IN INDIA

But the 30-run victory at Eden Gardens, India’s ‘Home of Cricket,’ was among the most tense and unlikely in South Africa’s test history.

Offspinner Simon Harmer enjoyed the headlines but Bavuma’s 55* was the highest score in a grippingly low-scoring game and made a profound difference to the result.

Defending a target of just 124 in the fourth innings on a pitch deliberately underprepared to favour the spinners, Harmer added 4-21 to his first innings 4-30 to help dismiss the hosts for only 93 and ensure their plan to enhance ‘home advantage’ back-fired spectacularly.

If India weren’t deflated at the start of the second test in Guwahati, they certainly were by the end of the second day after Muthusamy had scored 109 and Marco Jansen 93 from 90 balls in a daunting total of 489.

Harmer and Jansen (6-48) claimed the bulk of the wickets to earn a 408-run victory, South Africa’s second highest ever. Markram set a world test record with nine catches, all in the cordon.

Harmer was man-of-the-series with a staggering 17-152 across the two tests and delivered the quote of the year: “If the Grim Reaper of Cricketer told me now that it was all over and I’d never play again, I’d go happy.”

CHAMPIONS TROPHY SEMIFINALISTS

The Champions Trophy lacked credibility the moment it was confirmed that India would be based in Dubai for the duration of the tournament with potential semifinalists and finalists also travelling to the UAE after the BCCI confirmed that the team would not play in the host country, Pakistan.

Whereas New Zealand travelled 7 140 kilometres between Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi and Dubai, the Indian team travelled approximately two kilometres per day from their hotel to the stadium.

The Proteas racked up 3 286 kilometres including a trip to Dubai ‘in case’ they needed to play India in the semifinal.

As it transpired, they returned to Lahore to lose heavily to the Black Caps with David Miller’s 100* from just 67 balls always in vain.

Rickelton scored a century in a straightforward group match victory against Afghanistan, the game against Australia was washed out and England were despatched by seven wickets thanks to half centuries from Rassie van der Dussen and Heinrich Klaasen.

The semifinals were a minimum requirement so at least that box was ticked.

ODI SUCCESS IN AUASTRALIA AND ENGLAND

Back-to-back ODI series wins by the margin of 2-1 in Australia and England was a remarkable achievement – the travel alone was formidable with just six full days between matches on different continents.

Markram, Bavuma and Matthew Breetzke were also in the runs in Australia and Maharaj was almost unplayable.

Maharaj’s 4-22 helped dismantle England for 131 and Breetzke became the first player to pass 50 in his first five ODIs as England, like Australia, went 2-0 down.

Ordinarily the results of the third match in both series wouldn’t ‘matter’ greatly, but such was the enormity of defeat that gloss was inevitably lost from the preceding victories.

Australia piled up 431-2 before winning by a record 276 runs and England posted 414-5 before bowling the Proteas out for 72 to win by an eye-watering 342 runs, the heaviest defeat in history between major nations.

England also posted 304-2 in the second T20 International, the first time 300 has been breached between major nations.

BREVIS DAZZLES IN DARWIN

There were some very bright moments for the Proteas in the shortest format, none more dazzling that Dewald Brevis’ national record 125 against Australia in Darwin, but 18 losses from 28 games (before the final T20I against India in Ahmedabad) suggested that it was very much a work in progress.

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