In light of South Africa’s recent away Test triumph against New Zealand, the inaugural champions of the format, it could be worth rewinding to some other notable victories the Proteas had racked up on foreign soil since the country’s post-isolation period took its course.

Here, we observe and count down the top three.

3 – India vs South Africa at Nagpur from Februray 6 till 10, 2010:

Like the recent Test series against New Zealand, the Proteas managed to draw the tour 1-1 in trying circumstances against an Indian team peppered with legends of the game, such as Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Harbajan Singh and Ishant Sharma.  

This same Indian outfit went on to win the ODI World Cup the following year in 2011 and, with SA typically having struggled on the heavier subcontinent conditions, they were always going to be up against it.

However, batting first, the Proteas set a mammoth score of 558/6 dec, with Hashim Amla igniting their innings with a highly-impressive score of 253*, backed up sublimely by Jacques Kallis’s 173 and AB de Villiers’s 53.

The foundation proved too much for India as the hosts were struck down hard by Dale Steyn’s match figures of 10/108, which indirectly forced them to follow on and eventually lose by an innings and 6 runs.

2 – England vs South Africa at Lord’s from July 31 till August 3, 2003:

This is the Test, or series for that matter, that marked the emergence of Graeme Smith to international cricket. Batting second, usually the more difficult task, the Proteas got England out for a meagre 173, before the South Africans came to the party and amassed a huge total of 682/6 dec in response.

Smith, entrusted to captain the side for the series at the tender age of 22, led from the front and extinguished any doubt about his premature entrance into the fold by scoring a significant 259. Gary Kirsten supported his exploits well to score 108.

England were picked off for 417 in their second innings which resulted in SA winning by an innings and 92 runs. Makhaya Ntini enjoyed great spoils with the ball, taking two 5-wicket hauls to proclaim special match figures of 10/220.

1 – Australia vs South Africa at Melbourne from December 26 till 30, 2008:

The famous Boxing Day Test at the MCG provided a spectacle that year, a year that came after Australia’s ‘three-peat’ of ODI World Cup triumphs in what was a golden era for them.

The Aussies boasted the likes of Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson in their line-up, so there was a daunting wall of menace that fronted South Africa.

The Proteas were required to bat second after Australia set a decent score of 394. The SA innings was characterised by the emergence of JP Duminy, who scored a sublime 166, backed up by Dale Steyn’s surprising 76 and Graeme Smith’s 62.

After the Proteas took a 65-run lead, the Aussies set a more modest score of 247. Smith (75), Niel McKenzie (59) and Hashim Amla (30) combined superbly to reach their target and win by 9 wickets.

Steyn, along with his great knock with the bat, took two 5-wicket hauls to earn him match figures of 10/154, as well as the Man-of-the-Match accolade.

The victory also clinched the series 2-1 for SA and it would therefore go down as the most significant Test victory for them in the modern era.