South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada has achieved significant success in Test matches. He has become the fourth South African player to take 200 Test wickets on home grounds. This milestone was reached during the Keberha match against Australia, where Rabada dismissed Nick Maddinson and Mitchell Starc.
A notable aspect of this achievement is that Rabada reached 200 wickets in only 7017 balls, which is the lowest number of balls among all players to reach this mark.
Currently, in home matches, Kagiso Rabada has taken 202 Test wickets in 38 matches, with an average of 19.99. He has demonstrated outstanding abilities, taking five wickets in one innings 10 times and 10 wickets in a match four times. His best performance is seven wickets for 112 runs.
In the list of South African players with the most wickets in home Tests, Dale Steyn is ranked first with 261 wickets. He is followed by Makhaya Ntini with 249 and Shaun Pollock with 235. Rabada now ranks fourth in this list.
Although Dale Steyn reached the 200 home wicket mark in 37 matches, Rabada required one more match. However, in terms of balls bowled, Rabada surpassed Steyn. Steyn bowled 7751 balls to achieve this figure.
Rabada's achievement occurred during a period when South Africa made an impressive comeback in the second Test match. The hosts forced the opposing team to follow-on, restricting Australia's first innings to only 99 runs. Rabada took two wickets, conceding 33 runs in 12 overs.
In this match, Marco Jansen took five wickets for 33 runs, and Bian Mulder secured two wickets. For Australia, Steve Smith scored the most runs with 28, facing 88 deliveries, but the other batsmen could not cope with the South African bowlers.
Earlier in the match, the South African batting lineup also struggled, losing six batsmen at a score of 110 runs. Captain Temba Bavuma stabilized the game, scoring 179 runs off 334 balls. Marco Jansen added 85 runs, and together with Bavuma, they contributed 132 runs for the seventh wicket.
After Jansen came in, Simon Harmer supported the captain. Their partnership for the eighth wicket brought up 183 runs. Harmer scored 82 runs, playing a key role in South Africa reaching a total of 425/9. For Australia, Scott Boland took five wickets for 81 runs.
The Australian team leads the three-match series 1-0. South Africa has a chance to level the score in the remaining day of the second Test if they manage to win.
Kagiso Rabada's record achievement and the strong bowling performance have boosted the home side's hopes for victory.