Proteas make Test golden duck history

Cape Town - History was made at the end of the third Test between England and South Africa at The Oval in London on Monday.

England off-spinner Moeen Ali claimed a hat-trick to end the match and hand his side a crushing 239-run victory.

The Test was filled with historical significance - this was the 100th Test at The Oval - and saw Ali also create some of his own.

Ali's was just the 14th England hat-trick at this level and the first in The Oval's 127-year history as a Test venue.

From a South African perspective, the Proteas made their own bit of their own unwanted “history” by becoming the first team in Test history - in the 2 266th Test ever played - to suffer four first-ball, or “golden ducks”, in their innings.

This was confirmed by renowned cricket statistician Andrew Sampson.

Skipper Faf du Plessis, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada and Morne Morkel were all dismissed by the first ball they faced in South Africa’s second innings.

South Africa's innings today was the first in Test cricket to include four 1st ball ducks

— Andrew Samson (@AWSStats) July 31, 2017