DHAKA: South Africa speedster Kagiso Rabada became the fastest to reach the 300 Test wickets milestone in terms of balls bowled during the opening Test against Bangladesh here in Dhaka on Monday.
Bangladesh were tantalized by South African bowlers following their decision to bat after winning the toss. After Wiaan Mulder made early inroads with swinging deliveries and extracting extra bounce from the surface.
Rabada joined in the action, made the most of what the pitch offered and removed Mushfiqur Rahim and Litton Das, which added to Bangladesh’s agony.
Following his mouthwatering spell, Rabada became the fastest to reach 300 Test wickets after bowling 11,817 deliveries. He established his prowess by surpassing the iconic Waqar Younis (12,602), Dale Steyn (12,605), Allan Donald (13,672) and Malcolm Marshall (13,728).
Pakistan’s Younis held the record of becoming the fastest to hit 300 Test wickets in 12,602 deliveries. Rabada dethroned him from the top and bettered his record by 785 balls.
Before Rabada’s heroics, the legendary Dale Steyn was the quickest to land the 300 Test wickets milestone after bowling 12,605 deliveries. But he has now slipped to the second spot following the 29-year-old’s breathtaking display.
He capped off his impressive display by bagging Nayeem Hasan’s scalp which reduced Bangladesh to 102/9. Rabada ended the first inning with figures of 3/26 in his 11-over spell, giving away runs at an economy of 2.40.
Bangladesh folded on a paltry score of 106 after Taijul Islam fell straight into Keshav Maharaj’s trap. Rabada, Mulder and Maharaj ended the first inning with a three-wicket haul each.
In reply, South Africa lost skipper Aiden Markam early in the first innings. Hasan Mahmud cleaned him up with a peach of an inswinger in the opening over for a score of 6(7). Tristan Stubbs and Tony de Zorzi tried to stabilise South Africa’s inning after being rattled early. (ANI)
Also Read:Â India speedster Jasprit Bumrah becomes father