The Best of Tests: When Devon Malcolm told South Africans 'you guys are history'

Test cricket mirrors life. The ebbs and flows of the format have given birth to some of the most breath-taking cricketing epics. A Cricket World Series, The Best of Tests, highlights the finest of these spectacles.

Match Summary

South Africa 332 & 175

England 304 & 205/2

Result - England won by 8 wickets

Player of the Match - Devon Malcolm

 

Two years after South Africa's re-admission into cricket, they were on the tour of England in 1994. The two teams had not faced each other in a Test match in 29 years.

South Africa won the first Test at Lord's by 365 runs, which was followed by a draw at Headingley. The teams were back in London and England had to win the third match in order to draw the series.

 

 South Africa scored 332 in the first innings on the back of 93 from Brian McMillan and 58 from David Richardson. England, in reply, were bowled out for 304 with Graham Thorpe scoring with 79.

Fanie de Villiers hit Devon Malcolm on the head with a bouncer in England's first innings. Malcolm, who was a proper rabbit with bat in hand, was not amused with the chuckles by the South African fielders.

It is apocryphal that Malcolm told them that he was going to kill them, though most deny Malcolm's claim. 

On a pacy wicket, Malcolm found his rhythm in South Africa's 2nd innings. The Kirsten brothers were dismissed fending at steaming balls. Hansie Cronje was softened up with a few short deliveries followed by a yorker which blew away his stumps.

Apart from some resistance from Daryll Cullinan, the rest of the South African innings fell like a pack of cards. They were bowled out for just 175 with Devon Malcolm accounting for all but one of their wickets.

Malcolm's figures of 9/57 remain among the top 10 in Test history. A run-a-ball 81 from Graeme Hick then saw England chase down the 204-run target at a terrific run rate of 5.77.

 

© Cricket World 2020