South Africa have produced some of the finest Test batsmen in the game and the Proteas top run-scorers make an impressive collection with Dean Elgar the latest to hang up his bat.
Elgar was within touching distance of seventh on the list but ends just short.
Top Test run-scorers for South Africa
Here we take a look at the top runscorers for South Africa in Test cricket.
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8 Dean Elgar
Elgar scored his 14th Test century against India at SuperSport Park to lift the Proteas during his farewell series.
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He missed out on getting the double ton that has eluded him so far with his highest score an agonizing 199.
At Newlands in his final Test he was twice out cheaply and ended on 5347 Test runs from 86 matches.
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7 Mark Boucher
Boucher established a new standard for batting among South African wicketkeepers with his efforts.
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His career was cut short by injury and he might have notched even more impressive totals if not for a freak accident that impacted his vision. Boucher ended his career with 5498 runs to his name in Test cricket.
6 Herschelle Gibbs
Featuring in 90 Test matches for South Africa, Gibbs struck 6167 runs across his career in the ultimate format.
He is one of a small handful of Proteas who have notched more than one Test double hundred.
5 Gary Kirsten
In 101 Tests for South Africa, Gary Kirsten scored 7289 runs at an average of 45.27.
Kirsten stood out for his great success on the subcontinent, averaging 53.85 with four hundreds and seven half-centuries in 13 Tests in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
His Test best of 275 was the result of batting for over 14 and a half hours as South Africa followed on against England at Kingsmead in 1999-00. The knock was then the second-longest in Test cricket.
4 AB de Villiers
AB de Villiers has become synonymous with T20 cricket but one of the best to ever pick up a bat sports an incredible Test record too.
De Villiers scored 8765 runs in 114 Tests for South Africa at an average of 50.66.
The 278 not out he struck against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi in 2010 was the highest score by a South African in Test cricket at the time.
3 Graeme Smith
Graeme Smith amassed 9253 runs across his 116 Tests for South Africa including 27 hundreds.
Smith was also the youngest Test captain in South African Test cricket history.
Known for his demonstrative leadership and combative nature, his batting was also a big part of leading South Africa to being the No 1 Test nation.
2 Hashim Amla
Hashim Amla remains the only South African to score a Test triple century, with his 313 not out against England at the Oval in 2013 still the top score in Proteas history.
Amla scored 9282 runs in 126 Test matches for the Proteas and only one man has scored more hundreds for South Africa.
He only retired from First Class cricket in January after an incredible career.
1 Jacques Kallis
Jacques Kallis stands alone at the top of the mountain when it comes to scoring runs in Test cricket for South Africa.
Kallis was remarkably consistent and scored 45 hundreds amidst his 13206 Test runs in 165 matches for the Proteas in the ultimate format.
He passed fifty in Test cricket 103 times and many of his records might never be broken.
