A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the highest T20 standard. The game is played under the rules of Twenty20 cricket. The first Twenty20 International match between two men's sides was played on 17 February 2005, involving Australia and New Zealand. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack reported that "neither side took the game especially seriously", and it was noted by Cricinfo that but for a large score for Ricky Ponting, "the concept would have shuddered". However, Ponting himself said "if it does become an international game then I'm sure the novelty won't be there all the time". This is a list of South Africa Cricket team's Twenty20 International records. It is based on the List of Twenty20 International records, but concentrates solely on records dealing with the South African cricket team. South Africa played their first ever T20I in 2005.
Key The top five records are listed for each category, except for the team wins, losses, draws and ties, all round records and the partnership records. Tied records for fifth place are also included. Explanations of the general symbols and cricketing terms used in the list are given below. Specific details are provided in each category where appropriate. All records include matches played for South Africa only, and are correct .
+ Key Symbol Meaning Player or umpire is currently active in T20I cricket Even took place during a Men's T20 World Cup * Player remained not out or partnership remained unbroken ♠ Twenty20 International cricket record Date Starting date of the match Innings Number of innings played Matches Number of matches played Opposition The team South Africa was playing against Period The time period when the player was active in ODI cricket Player The player involved in the record Venue Twenty20 International cricket ground where the match was played
Team records Overall Record MatchesWonLostTiedNRWin % 221 119 97 2 3 55.50Last Updated: 11 September 2025
Team wins, losses, draws and ties , South Africa has played 205 T20I matches resulting in 112victories, 89 defeats, 1 tie, and 3 no result for an overall winning percentage of 54.63.
OpponentMatchesWonLostTiedNo Result% Won Full Members3 3 0 0 0 100.0028 9 19 0 0 32.149 9 0 0 0 100.0027 14 12 0 1 51.8531 12 18 0 1 38.707 6 1 0 0 85.7118 11 7 0 0 61.1124 12 12 0 0 50.0018 12 5 1 0 66.6626 12 14 0 0 46.1512 11 0 0 1 91.67 Associate Members3 1 2 0 0 33.331 1 0 0 0 100.003 2 1 0 0 66.661 1 0 0 0 100.001 1 0 0 0 100.00Total205112891354.63
First bilateral T20I series wins
Opponent Year of first Home win Year of first Away win 2006 2018 2008 2015 2016 2022 2011 2015 YTP 2021 2007 2012 2007 2010 2019 2013 2026 2010 2010 YTP Last Updated: 22 July 2021
First T20I match wins
Opponent Home Away / Neutral Venue Year Venue Year YTP YTP Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados 2010 New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa 2006 Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, Australia 2014 Sahara Park Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa 2007 Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur, Bangladesh 2015 Trent Bridge, Nottingham, England 2009 New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa 2012 YTP YTP Malahide Cricket Club Ground, Dublin, Ireland 2021 Arnos Vale Stadium, Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2024 Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong, Bangladesh 2014 Sahara Stadium, Kingsmead, Durban, South Africa 2007 Lord's, London, England 2009 New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa 2007 Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi, UAE 2010 YTP YTP The Oval, London, England 2009 Centurion Park, Centurion, South Africa 2017 Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Hambantota, Sri Lanka 2012 YTP YTP Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua and Barbuda 2024 New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa 2007 The Oval, London, England 2009 Goodyear Park, Bloemfontein, South Africa 2010 Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Hambantota, Sri Lanka 2012 Last Updated: 22 July 2021
Team scoring records
Most runs in an innings Rank Score Opposition Venue Date1 Centurion Park, Centurion, South Africa 2 3 New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa 4 Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, India 5 Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore, India Last Updated: 17 March 2024
Fewest runs in an innings Rank Score Opposition Venue Date1 74/10 Barabati Stadium, Cuttack, India 9 December 20252 87/9 Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot, India 17 June 20223 New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa 4 Wanderers, Johannesburg, South Africa 5 Sahara Park Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa Last Updated: 9 December 2025
Most runs conceded in an innings
Rank Score Opposition Venue Date1 Old Trafford, Manchester, England 2 New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa 3 Centurion Park, Centurion, South Africa 4 Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati, India 5 New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa Last Updated: 12 September 2025
Fewest runs conceded in an innings Rank Score Opposition Venue Date1 Brian Lara Cricket Academy, San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago 2 Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York, United States 3 Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados 4 The Oval, London, England 5 Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Last Updated: 3 June 2024
Most runs aggregate in a match Rank Aggregate Scores Venue Date1 (258/5) v (259/4) Centurion Park, Centurion, South Africa 2 (231/7) v (236/6) New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa 3 (229/4) v (230/8) Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, India 4 458/6 (237/3) v (221/3) Assam Cricket Association Stadium, Guwahati 2 October 20225 (222/6) v (226/5) Centurion Park, Centurion, South Africa Last Updated: 2 October 2022
Fewest runs aggregate in a match Rank Aggregate Scores Venue Date1 (56) v (60/1) Brian Lara Cricket Academy, San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago 2 (58/8) v (60/5) Axxess DSL St. Georges, Port Elizabeth, South Africa 3 (78/4) v (46/5) Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Hambantota, Sri Lanka 4 (77) v (80/4) Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York, United States 5 (97/5) v (54/5) Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, Wales Last Updated: 11 September 2025
Result records A T20I match is won when one side has scored more runs than the runs scored by the opposing side during their innings. If both sides have completed both their allocated innings and the side that fielded last has the higher aggregate of runs, it is known as a win by runs. This indicates the number of runs that they had scored more than the opposing side. If the side batting last wins the match, it is known as a win by wickets, indicating the number of wickets that were still to fall.
Greatest win margins (by runs) Rank Margin Opposition Venue Date 1 130 Runs The Oval, London, England 2 104 Runs Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia 3 90 Runs Rose Bowl, Southampton, England 4 84 Runs Centurion Park, Centurion, South Africa 5 83 Runs North West Cricket Stadium, Potchefstroom, South Africa Last Updated: 31 July 2022
Greatest win margins (by balls remaining) Rank Balls remaining Margin Opposition Venue Date1 67 9 wickets Brian Lara Cricket Academy, San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago 2 51 10 wickets New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa 3 47 8 wickets Sahara Stadium, Kingsmead, Durban, South Africa 4 44 10 wickets Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Hambantota, Sri Lanka 5 40 6 wickets Arun Jaitley Cricket Stadium, Delhi, India Last Updated: 1 March 2026
Greatest win margins (by wickets) A total of 22 matches have ended with chasing team winning by 10 wickets with South Africa winning by such margins three times.
Margin Opposition Venue Date 10 wickets New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Hambantota, Sri Lanka R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka 9 wickets Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai, UAE New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, India R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka Brian Lara Cricket Academy, San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago Boland Park, Paarl, South Africa Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, India Last updated: 1 March 2026
Highest successful run chases South Africa holds the record for the highest successful run chase which they achieved when they scored 259/4 in response to the West Indies' 258/5.
Rank Score Target Opposition Venue Date 1 259 Supersports Park, Centurion, South Africa 2 222 Supersports Park, Centurion, South Africa 3 212 Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, India 4 207 Centurion Park, Centurion, South Africa 5 206 New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa Last Updated: 1 March 2026
Narrowest win margins (by runs) The narrowest run margin victory is by 1 run which has been achieved in 15 T20I's with South Africa winning such games thrice.
Margin Opposition Venue Date 1 Run Lord's, London, England Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda Buffalo Park, East London, South Africa National Cricket Stadium, St. George's Arnos Vale Stadium, Kingstown Last Updated: 29 June 2021
Narrowest win margins (by balls remaining) The narrowest winning margin by balls remaining in T20Is is by winning of the last ball which has been achieved 26 times. South Africa has achieve victory of the last ball once.
Rank Balls remaining Margin Opposition Venue Date 1 0 balls 3 wickets Sahara Park Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa 2 1 ball New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa 4 wickets Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates 4 2 balls 7 wickets Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamshala, India 5 wickets Perth Stadium, Perth, Australia Last Updated: 1 March 2026
Narrowest win margins (by wickets) The narrowest margin of victory by wickets is 1 wicket which has settled four such T20Is. The narrowest victory by wickets for South Africa is three wickets on four occasions.
Margin Opposition Venue Date 3 wickets New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa Sahara Park Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa Sahara Stadium, Kingsmead, Durban, South Africa Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua and Barbuda St George's Park, Gqeberha, South Africa Last Updated: 1 March 2026
Greatest loss margins (by runs) South Africa's biggest defeat by runs was against England during its 2025 tour of England at Manchester, Lancashire, England.
Rank Margin Opposition Venue Date 1 146 runs Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Manchester, England 2 135 runs New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa 3 111 runs Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium, Durban, South Africa 4 107 runsNew Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa 5 106 runs Last Updated: 13 September 2025
Greatest loss margins (by balls remaining) The largest defeat suffered by South Africa was against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia during the 2014 T20I Series during the Australian tour when they lost by 7 wickets with 44 balls remaining.
Rank Balls remaining Margin Opposition Venue Date 1 44 7 wickets Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia 2 41 9 wickets Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, Pakistan 3 37 8 wickets Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica 4 33 9 wickets Rose Bowl, Southampton, England 5 31 8 wickets Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium, Durban, South Africa Last Updated: 31 October 2025
Greatest loss margins (by wickets) South Africa have lost a T20I match by a margin of 9 wickets on one occasion.