Against Pakistan at Newlands, Ryan Rickelton hit 259, the fourth-highest Test score on South African soil.
South Africa amassed 615 against Pakistan at Cape Town after Temba Bavuma won the toss and opted to bat. Pakistan finished the second day on 64-3. Bavuma himself got 106 and Kyle Verreynne 100, but promoted to the top, Rickelton stole the show with a 10-hour 259.
Rickelton’s innings is now the fourth-highest in Test cricket in South Africa. It displaced Ben Stokes’s 258 from the fourth spot. It is only 16 behind Gary Kirsten’s 275, scored against England at the turn of the millennium, and three behind Stephen Fleming’s 262, the record at the venue.
Highest individual men’s Test scores in South Africa
| Score | Batter | Team | Opposition | Venue | Season |
| 275 | Gary Kirsten | South Africa | England | Durban | 1999-00 |
| 274 | Graeme Pollock | South Africa | Australia | Durban | 1969-70 |
| 262 | Stephen Fleming | New Zealand | South Africa | Cape Town | 2005-06 |
| 259 | Ryan Rickelton | South Africa | Pakistan | Cape Town | 2024-25 |
| 258 | Ben Stokes | England | South Africa | Cape Town | 2015-16 |
| 243 | Eddie Paynter | England | South Africa | Durban | 1938-39 |
| 231 | Dudley Nourse | South Africa | Australia | New Wanderers | 1935-36 |
| 228 | Herschelle Gibbs | South Africa | Pakistan | Cape Town | 2002-03 |
| 224 | Jacques Kallis | South Africa | Sri Lanka | Cape Town | 2011-12 |
| 219 | Bill Edrich | England | South Africa | Old Wanderers | 1938-39 |
- South Africa are among the three nations that have hosted Test cricket but are yet to see a triple-hundred. The others are Zimbabwe (Kumar Sangakkara’s 270 is the best) and Ireland (Kevin O’Brien’s 118 is the only hundred).
- Sam Cook’s 390 for the Lions against the Warriors at East London in 2009-10 is the highest first-class score in South Africa. There have been only 11 triple hundreds in the format.
- Nat Sciver-Brunt’s 128 at Bloemfontein is the highest score women’s Test cricket in South Africa. Hers is one of six women’s Test centuries there.
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