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South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada dominated against the Australian batting order during the first day of the World Test Championship (WTC) final held at Lord's in London. He ended up taking a fantastic five-wicket haul as the Baggy Greens only managed to post a first-inning total of 212 before getting bundled out.
Rabada's first wicket came in the seventh over and it came in the form of Usman Khawaja, who departed back to the pavilion for a 20-ball duck. Then on the final delivery of the same over, he also ended up dismissing Cameron Green for four runs.
His next wicket came in the 53rd over where he sent Australia skipper Pat Cummins back to the dugout for just a single run. In his next over, Rabada would take the wicket of Beau Webster, who turned out to be the reigning WTC champions' top-scorer with his inning of 72 runs. Finally, he would complete his 17th fifer in Test cricket with the scalp of Mitchell Starc who also managed to get only one run on the board.
Rabada overtook Allan Donald to become South Africa's fourth-highest wicket-taker in Tests
Following Rabada's amazing spell of 5/51, legendary South Africa pacer Dale Steyn showered praise on the 30-year-old and labelled his bowling performance as 'outstanding'. Notably, the five-wicket haul took Rabada's Test wicket tally to 332, making him the fourth-highest wicket-taker for the Proteas in the longest format, leaving behind Allan Donald, who racked up 330 scalps in 72 matches.
"He (Rabada) got the ball to swing well. It started with Alex Carey playing a poor first-ball shot to Keshav Maharaj--he did not need to play that. There was a sweeper out too. His dismissal opened up an end, and then Rabada came in and did what he does best--picked up wickets. Jansen also found swing and attacked the stumps, much like Australia did later. Australia actually took a leaf out of South Africa's book. Rabada, once he senses an opportunity, goes for the kill. He is just a fantastic bowler. When he retires, we will truly be able to talk about his greatness, but on Day 1, he was outstanding," Steyn said on JioStar.
Though South Africa did bundle out the reigning champs for a low total, the bowlers helped Australia claw their way back into the game as they went on to dismiss the Proteas' top-order during the final session of the first day. Mitchell Starc picked up two wickets while Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood picked up one each as South Africa wrapped up the day on 43/4. Skipper Temba Bavuma remained unbeaten on three while David Bedingham finished on eight.
It will be interesting to see if the Australian bowlers will continue to dominate on the second day as well or will the South African batters fight back and provide their side with the lead in the Test match.
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