second innings, Mitchell was restored as van der Bijl's opening partner, and they put on 191 for the first wicket, van der Bijl failing by three runs to become the first South African to score two centuries in a match against England. In the series as a whole, van der Bijl scored 460 runs at an average of 51.11; his was the second highest aggregate of runs for South Africa in the series, beaten only by Mitchell's 466. Later career The Second World War brought an end to competitive cricket in South Africa. Van der Bijl played in a few first-class friendly matches in 1939–40 and in a war-time first-class game a couple of years later, but there was no more Test or Currie Cup cricket for him. He was badly wounded while serving in North Africa during the war, and played no more cricket after that. His career was as a schoolmaster and he became the headmaster of the Diocesan College Preparatory School in Cape Town. His son, Vintcent van der Bijl, another very tall man, became a successful fast bowler for teams in South Africa and England, though his career coincided with the exclusion of South Africa from international sport because of apartheid and he did not play Test cricket. References 1907 births 1973 deaths Afrikaner people South African people of Dutch descent South African Rhodes Scholars Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford South Africa Test cricketers South African cricketers Oxford University cricketers Western Province cricketers