Cape Town — The Proteas suffered their second biggest defeat in their history when they were crushed by New Zealand in Christchurch on Saturday.
Dean Elgar’s men will now go back to the drawing board as they look to salvage the series in the second and final Test, also in Christchurch.
Here is a list of the Proteas' five biggest Test defeats ever:
1. SA v Australia, First Test, Johannesburg, 2002
Australia: 652/7 decl. (Matthew Hayden 122, Damian Martyn 133, Adam Gilchrist 204*)
South Africa: 159 (Ashwell Prince 49) & 133 (Herschelle Gibbs 47, Glenn McGrath 5/21, Shane Warne 4/44)
RESULT: Australia won by an innings and 360 runs.
2. SA v New Zealand, First Test, Christchurch, 2022.
South Africa: 95 (Zubayr Hamza 25, Matt Henry 7/23) & 111 (Temba Bavuma 41, Tim Southee 5/35)
New Zealand: 482 (Henry Nicholls 105, Tom Blundell 96, Henry 58*)
RESULT: New Zealand won by an innings and 276 runs.
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3. SA v Australia, Fifth Test, Port Elizabeth, 1950
Australia: 549/7 decl. (Arthur Morris 157, Neil Harvey 116, Lindsay Hassett 167)
South Africa: 158 (Tufty Mann 41, Keith Miller 4/42) & 132 (Dudley Nourse 55, Bill Johnston 3/10)
RESULT: Australia won by an innings and 259 runs
4. SA v England, Second Test, Cape Town, 1889
England: 292 (Bobby Abel 120, Henry Wood 59, Gobo Ashley 7/95)
South Africa: 47 (Jonny Briggs 7/17) & 43 (Briggs 8/11)
RESULT: England won by an innings and 202 runs
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5. SA v India, Third Test, Ranchi, 2019
India: 497/9 decl. (Rohit Sharma 212, Ajinkya Rahane 115, George Linde 4/113)
South Africa: 162 (Hamza 62) & 133