No.4 in Wisden’s men’s Test spells of 2023 is Kagiso Rabada’s scorching 5-59 that demolished India in the Centurion Test match. Abhishek Mukherjee looks back at an exceptional spell from an exceptional fast bowler.
Wisden’s men’s Test spell of 2023, No.4: Kagiso Rabada – 5-59
South Africa v India
First Test of two-match series
SuperSport Park, Centurion, December 26-27
This is the 27th game in the series. India were 24-3 at one point, but Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer weathered the storm. South Africa has had to deal with rearguard actions like this before, but this situation is unusual.
Anrich Nortje has been removed from the series. Lungi Ngidi, this test. There was no Keshav Maharaj as the team management did not believe this was a pitch meant for spinners. Four pacemakers have to do the job. Among them, Noodles Burger is the first to appear. Gerald Coetzee played two Test matches. Marco Jansen, 11 years old.
Rabada knew South Africa from the days of Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel. He bowled next to them.
No more. Here he leads the Greenhorn attack. His supporting cast is talented but inexperienced and lacks a fifth bowler.
Rabada dismissed Rohit Sharma at the start of the first match and bowled seven overs with the new ball. He must return for his second spell to put an end to this threatening conflict.
He almost killed Ayer with his first spell, but Jansen squandered the chance. Since then, India has posted a 91-3 record with him. All you need is a successful spell.
They can’t do that because Rabada needs six balls to strike. You could say Iyer was a bit unlucky. He played long, but his ball stayed a little low and went through the defense and hit the wood frame. The stand is broken and South Africa are one wicket away from being an all-rounder.
This situation is not new to Kohli. He also ran on this coast against Rabada. He entered the tour averaging 51 points in South Africa. Of his three balls he faced in the next over, none troubled him.
But with Rabada, the next corker is always close to delivery. The pitch is medium and the length is good. Kohli takes the line. He allows for some away moves, but this one mostly looks like a quick leg break to touch the outside edge. The rest of the work will be done by Kyle Verrein behind the stumps.
India will send R. Ashwin in front of Shardul Thakur. Ashwin sends Rabada on the two boundaries. A solid and confident recording. Perhaps India can come out of this situation.
Dean Elgar replaced Themba Bavuma and took five overs from Rabada, who was under spell, taking his 12th over of the first 35 innings. Rahul cuts through the inside edge and takes a single. Rabada hits Ashwin’s bat with his 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and more shots.
Now comes the masterpiece, the unplayable and at the same time unavoidable ball. It occupies length and rises at breakneck speed. Ashwin is surprised by the steep descent, but it is too late to avoid it. So he does the next best thing by loosening his grip. This absorbs some of the shock, but not all of it. The ball continues to inflate until his third slip.
With 3 wickets in 19 balls, Rabada single-handedly tore through the middle order. Most days this would have been enough, but with Rahul and Thakur still reaching his 43rd year, his work is notyet done here.
So Rabada must return for another spell. Now we need two balls. The first unpleasant snort hit Thakur’s forearm. Thakur responds by playing the next ball to Elgar.
Rabada continued to move forward, hitting the outside edge multiple times and into the gloves of Jasprit Bumrah, but could not get another wicket. Rahul’s impressive 101 innings took India to his 245 innings, but if you look at Elgar’s 185 innings in his 7 hours, you can easily see the number of innings.
Rabada struck twice more on the third day and South Africa won by an innings within three days, ending India’s hopes of winning their first Test series in the country.
The series ends with Rabada taking 291 Test wickets, one in 39.2 balls. No one in history, even in the open wicket era, has shown a better rate of strike than even half a scalp.
Does this make Rabada the best strike bowler of all time? It’s hard to say. But in Centurion, he reminded the world why he is one of the top contenders for that title. Like all legendary strike bowlers, he batted with new and old balls. He broke the partnership by picking up cheap wickets. Even if he didn’t take a wicket, he was always one ball away from breaking through.
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