Keshav Maharaj was too excited to come up with a celebration after becoming the first South African to claim a test hat-trick in 61 years as his side completed a 2-0 series sweep against West Indies with a 158-run victory in Saint Lucia on June 21.
The left-arm spinner picked up five wickets in West Indies' second innings but it was his hat-trick that will live long in the memory, especially as it came when the hosts were beginning to believe they could reach their 324-run victory target.
They had recovered to 107 for three after a poor start when Maharaj (5-36) claimed the scalp of the dangerous Kieran Powell (51), who tried to launch him to the midwicket boundary but picked out lone fielder Anrich Nortje.
All-rounder Jason Holder was caught by short-leg Keegan Petersen first ball, and Wiaan Mulder took an excellent diving catch low to his right at leg-slip off Joshua Da Silva to complete the hat-trick.
"Powell was looking to come at me and I just thought about putting the ball in the right area and it found Anrich on the boundary," Maharaj told reporters.
"The second one to Jason, I was trying to bowl a straight delivery and luckily it got an inside edge.
"The hat-trick ball I had so many things going through my head as to where to put the ball. In the end I just bowled it normally and Joshua followed it down leg and full credit to Wiaan for a great catch.
"I didn’t know what to do [to celebrate], I thought about doing a slide but ended up stopping dead in my tracks. There was too much excitement and adrenalin in me."
It was only the second test hat-trick for South Africa after seamer Geoff Griffin managed the feat against England at Lord's in 1960.
They completed a first away test series win in four years, which comes as they start a new era under recently appointed captain Dean Elgar.
"There are a lot of positives to take out of the match, but there are also obviously a lot of things we need to work on because there is always room for improvement," added Maharaj.
"But there is a good buzz in the change room and a sense of pride."
Scoreboard:
South Africa win by 158 runs
South Africa 1st innings: Dean Elgar b Kyle Mayers 77Aiden Markram c Roston Chase b Shannon Gabriel 0Keegan Petersen c Jason Holder b Jayden Seales 7Rassie van der Dussen b Kemar Roach 4Kyle Verreynne c Joshua Da Silva b Shannon Gabriel 27Quinton de Kock c Shai Hope b Kyle Mayers 96Wiaan Mulder c Joshua Da Silva b Kemar Roach 8Keshav Maharaj c Joshua Da Silva b Jason Holder 12Kagiso Rabada Not Out 21Anrich Nortje c Jayden Seales b Kyle Mayers 1Lungi Ngidi c (Sub) b Kemar Roach 1
Extras 9b 20lb 3nb 0pen 12w 44Total (112.4 overs) 298 all out
Fall of Wickets : 1-1 Markram, 2-26 Petersen, 3-37 van der Dussen, 4-124 Verreynne, 5-203 Elgar, 6-239 Mulder, 7-275 Maharaj, 8-275 de Kock, 9-281 Nortje, 10-298 Ngidi
Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ ExKemar Roach 21.4 6 45 3 2.08 1wShannon Gabriel 16 4 65 2 4.06 2w 2nbJayden Seales 19 4 44 1 2.32Jason Holder 21 5 47 1 2.24Roston Chase 15 4 26 0 1.73Kyle Mayers 15 6 28 3 1.87 1w 1nbKraigg Brathwaite 5 0 14 0 2.80
West Indies 1st innings: Kraigg Brathwaite c Quinton de Kock b Kagiso Rabada 0Kieran Powell lbw Lungi Ngidi 5Shai Hope b Lungi Ngidi 43Roston Chase c Kyle Verreynne b Anrich Nortje 4Kyle Mayers c Aiden Markram b Keshav Maharaj 12Jermaine Blackwood c Dean Elgar b Keshav Maharaj 49Jason Holder c Keegan Petersen b Kagiso Rabada 10Joshua Da Silva c Quinton de Kock b Wiaan Mulder 7Kemar Roach c Quinton de Kock b Wiaan Mulder 1Jayden Seales c Kyle Verreynne b Wiaan Mulder 0Shannon Gabriel Not Out 0
Extras 6b 3lb 4nb 0pen 5w 18Total (54.0 overs) 149 all out
Fall of Wickets : 1-0 Brathwaite, 2-8 Powell, 3-30 Chase, 4-54 Mayers, 5-97 Hope, 6-115 Holder, 7-143 Da Silva, 8-145 Roach, 9-145 Seales, 10-149 Blackwood
Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ ExKagiso Rabada 13 6 24 2 1.85 1nbLungi Ngidi 7 0 27 2 3.86 1w 1nbAnrich Nortje 12 0 41 1 3.42 2nbKeshav Maharaj 18 2 47 2 2.61Wiaan Mulder 4 3 1 3 0.25
South Africa 2nd innings: Aiden Markram c Jason Holder b Kemar Roach 4Dean Elgar c Jason Holder b Kemar Roach 10Keegan Petersen b Kyle Mayers 18Rassie van der Dussen Not Out 75Kyle Verreynne c Joshua Da Silva b Kyle Mayers 6Quinton de Kock c Joshua Da Silva b Jason Holder 0Wiaan Mulder c Shai Hope b Kyle Mayers 0Keshav Maharaj c Jason Holder b Jayden Seales 6Kagiso Rabada c (Sub) b Kemar Roach 40Anrich Nortje c Joshua Da Silva b Kemar Roach 3Lungi Ngidi st Joshua Da Silva b Kraigg Brathwaite 6
Extras 1b 1lb 0nb 0pen 4w 6Total (53.0 overs) 174 all out
Fall of Wickets : 1-4 Markram, 2-33 Elgar, 3-44 Petersen, 4-52 Verreynne, 5-53 de Kock, 6-54 Mulder, 7-73 Maharaj, 8-143 Rabada, 9-152 Nortje, 10-174 Ngidi
Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ ExKemar Roach 13 1 52 4 4.00 1wShannon Gabriel 6 0 28 0 4.67 1wJayden Seales 11 3 34 1 3.09 1wKyle Mayers 9 2 24 3 2.67Jason Holder 11 2 24 1 2.18Kraigg Brathwaite 3 0 10 1 3.33
West Indies 2nd innings: Kraigg Brathwaite c Dean Elgar b Kagiso Rabada 6Kieran Powell c Anrich Nortje b Keshav Maharaj 51Shai Hope c Aiden Markram b Kagiso Rabada 2Kyle Mayers c Dean Elgar b Kagiso Rabada 34Jermaine Blackwood c Quinton de Kock b Lungi Ngidi 25Jason Holder c Keegan Petersen b Keshav Maharaj 0Joshua Da Silva c Wiaan Mulder b Keshav Maharaj 0Kemar Roach c Lungi Ngidi b Keshav Maharaj 27Jayden Seales c Anrich Nortje b Keshav Maharaj 7Shannon Gabriel Not Out 2
Extras 4b 3lb 2nb 0pen 2w 11Total (58.3 overs) 165 all out
Fall of Wickets : 1-16 Brathwaite, 2-26 Hope, 3-90 Mayers, 4-107 Powell, 5-107 Holder, 6-107 Da Silva, 7-147 Blackwood, 8-158 Roach, 9-165 Seales Did Not Bat : Chase
Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ ExKagiso Rabada 16 3 44 3 2.75 2nbLungi Ngidi 10 2 29 1 2.90 1wKeshav Maharaj 17.3 7 36 5 2.06Anrich Nortje 11 3 35 0 3.18 1wWiaan Mulder 4 0 14 0 3.50
Umpire: Gregory Brathwaite
Umpire: Joel Wilson
Video: Leslie Reifer
Match Referee: Richard Richardson