Proteas veteran Makhaya Ntini has called it a day, bringing down the curtain on one of the most illustrious careers in the history of South African cricket. Ntini was a trailblazer for young black South Africans in cricket, his exploits on the pitch well known, and his humbleness off it equally so.

Ntini was used to making history, but perhaps his most glorious achievement was when he became the first South African bowler to take 10 wickets in a Test match at Lord’s – the home of cricket. It was a Test match fondly remembered by the touring South Africans in 2003, with three members of the team making it onto the honours board in the pavilion. Skipper Graeme Smith and veteran batsman Gary Kirsten both did it with centuries, but Ntini beat them both to it by taking 5/75 on the first day of the Test and then picking up 5/145 in the second innings for his 10-wicket haul. Incidentally, Ntini also shares the record for most 10-wicket hauls by an SA bowler with Dale Steyn.

Ntini will always be remembered for his exploits with the ball, but one of his proudest moments came with the bat during the epic ‘438’ match against Australia at the Wanderers in 2006. It was not a happy return for Ntini with the ball - although to be fair it wasn’t for any of the bowlers – but he did his job with the bat. Coming in at number 11, with two runs still required, and facing up to Aussie quick Brett Lee, Ntini managed to nudge a single to get Mark Boucher back on strike to hit the winning runs.

At the start of his career, many felt that Ntini was not up to international standard because of his lack of variation, a criticism he proved wrong time and time again. But it was against the West Indies that he proved he was in fact one of the best. The energetic Proteas seamer is well known for his fitness, sending down over after over without complaint, so it’s hardly surprising that he holds the SA record for best bowling figures in Test cricket – 13/132 against the West Indies in 2005 on dead Queen’s Park Oval pitch. By the end of his Test career, Ntini had picked up 390 wickets.

Ntini, of course, was just as good in the one-day format. Over the course of 173 appearances for the Proteas, he accumulated 266 wickets. Not only did he deliver in the shorter version of the game, but he did so against the best in the world, as his figures against the likes of Australia and England can testify. Ntini’s heroics against Australia at Newlands in 2006 were the best bowling figures in ODIs ever by a South African - 6/23.

Despite battling for form at the time, Ntini was given the opportunity to mark 100 Tests for South Africa – against England at Centurion in December 2009 – and it was an achievement celebrated across the country. Always amongst the most popular of SA sportsmen, nobody would begrudge Ntini his moment of glory against one of the team’s oldest, and fiercest, rivals. It would prove to be his final moment in Test cricket, but the veteran bowler had long ago secured his place in the annals of history.