Major honours
South Africa became the third Test nation in 1889, but apartheid saw it barred from international cricket for 21 years, from 1970 to 1991, before returning with an ODI against India in Kolkata in 1991. Since then it has been one of the strongest sides in the world almost continuously. A fast-bowling lineage running from Allan Donald through Shaun Pollock to Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis — statistically the most complete all-rounder in the sport's history — and AB de Villiers' explosive white-ball hitting carried South Africa to the number-one Test ranking from 2012 to 2014. World tournaments, though, brought years of heartbreak: the rain-rule disaster in the 1992 semifinal, the tied semifinal exit at Edgbaston in 1999, and the 2015 semifinal loss all fed the 'chokers' label. South Africa finally reached its first men's world final in the 2024 T20 World Cup, losing to India by seven runs, before beating Australia in the World Test Championship final at Lord's the following year, 2025, to finally claim a world title.
Record comparison
Bars are scaled to the strongest team in this list.
Club legends
Rivalry
The rivalry with Australia has been rated among the most bitter since the 1990s, and the 2018 Cape Town ball-tampering scandal erupted during it. The series with England is among the oldest still contested, dating back to 1889.