Quick-fire record — Rabada becomes the fastest bowler in Test history to take 300 wickets

Kagiso Rabada is the most lethal bowler in Test history. On Monday morning in Dhaka, in his fourth delivery of his fifth over on the first morning of the Test match between the Proteas and Bangladesh, Rabada sent Mushfiqur Rahim’s middle and off stumps flying out of the ground.

It was a beautiful delivery on a good length that nipped in just enough to miss the bat and clatter into Rahim’s pad, making a mess of the stumps.

South Africa had Bangladesh in a world of trouble on 40 for the loss of four wickets at that stage, but that was secondary to what the dismissal meant.

Eight years and 11 months after making his Test debut, Rabada had picked up his 300th Test wicket. He took the wicket with his 11,817th delivery. No one has achieved the feat in fewer deliveries.

The next quickest is Pakistan legend Waqar Younis, who took nearly 800 deliveries more. South Africa’s all-time leading wicket-taker, Dale Steyn, is third on the list with 20 more deliveries than Younis.

Of the 10 fastest to 300 wickets in Test history, Rabada has the best strike rate — a measly 39.39. This means that around every 39th delivery he bowls in Test cricket he will take a wicket.

England’s George Lohmann, who played cricket between 1886 and 1896, claimed 112 scalps in 18 matches at a strike rate of 34.19. He has the lowest strike rate for cricketers with more than 100 wickets.

Four other Test cricketers have a lower strike rate than Rabada but none of them has taken more than 90 wickets, providing a very small sample size.

So, while calling Rabada the most lethal bowler in Test history may sound like hyperbole, the talented South African has a justifiable claim to the title.

‘Just a relief’

While all the attention was on Rabada, all of his attention was on the match at hand.

“When I came on to bowl this morning, I wasn’t really thinking about that final wicket,” Rabada said after the day’s play, with South Africa at 140 for six after bowling Bangladesh out for 106.

“I was more focused on how we were going to win this Test, having lost the toss and bowling first. But when it happened, it was just a relief,” he said.

“Everyone, in the back of their mind, plays for milestones, but it was a relief. The way my teammates support me, we support each other, and that felt really good. It’s a special moment.

“I didn’t know about the record, but I guess it motivates me to do even better.”

Rahim’s dismissal saw Rabada becoming the sixth South Africa bowler to 300 Test wickets after Steyn (439), Shaun Pollock (421), Makhaya Ntini (390), Allan Donald (330) and Morne Morkel (309).

Aged 29 and 150 days, Rabada is younger than any of the aforementioned speedsters when attaining the 300 mark.

Getting to 300 wickets wasn’t enough for the big quick on the day. He also dismissed Litton Das and Nayeem Hasan to finish with the second-best figures in the South African crop that dismissed Bangladesh for 106 on day one.

Rabada conceded 26 runs in 11 overs for his three wickets while Wiaan Mulder, opening the bowling alongside him, also claimed three scalps, but conceded only 22 runs.

In reply, South Africa stuttered to 140 at the close of play on the spin-friendly deck, losing six wickets in the process. DM