Kagiso Rabada produced one his best performances in a great test career but it was with the bat rather than the ball as he hammered South Africa to an astonishing and tense 2-wicket victory in the first test against Pakistan at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Sunday.
Rabada came to the crease at 99-8 chasing a target of 148 for victory and smashed an exhilarating, unbeaten 31 from just 26 balls during a match winning, unbroken ninth wicket stand of 51 with fellow fast bowler Marco Jansen who played a supporting role with 16* from 24 balls which contained three fours including the one which won the match.
Rabada struck five boundaries as he refused to succumb to the pressure exerted by the brilliant Mohammad Abbas who heroically bowled unchanged throughout the innings, including 13 overs in a row during the morning session, to finish with figures of 19.3-6-54-6.
Temba Bavuma top-scored with 40 but it was his bizarre dismissal which dramatically changed the course of the innings.
Bavuma lived a charmed life surviving a ‘successful’ caught behind decision on five when the ball flicked his thigh pad rather than bat and another on 13 when an inside edge saved him from being lbw.
One run later, on 14, he top-edged a hook against Abbas and was caught by Nassem Shah at deep square leg only for the fielder to step over the boundary to concede a six. It seemed it may have been a turning point.
𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐇 𝐀𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀 𝐖𝐈𝐍 𝐁𝐘 𝟐 𝐖𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐓𝐒 🤩
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) December 29, 2024
It's been nothing but brilliant from Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada 🇿🇦
📺 Stream #SAvPAK on DStv: https://t.co/rM90YyQxaw pic.twitter.com/HHGy3Wh7M7
But the South African captain then ‘walked’ on 40 when he was given out to a catch behind against Abbas despite Hawkeye replays clearly showing that the ball had once again missed the inside edge of his bat and flicked the thigh pad. Expressions of shocked bewilderment abounded in the SA change room but Bavuma was gone having faced 78 balls with four fours to accompany the six.
Earlier Aiden Markram was bowled by Abbas for 37 from 63 balls (6x4) with a delivery which nipped back and kept low to sneak under the bat and at 96-5 the home side were desperately trying to keep control of their nerves.
𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐏, 𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐃'𝐒 ➡️
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) December 29, 2024
South Africa have booked their ticket to the World Test Championship final 🇿🇦🤩#WTC25 | #SummerOfCricket pic.twitter.com/xPiwpxl00U
However, three further wickets fell before lunch without the addition of a run with the total on 99. Kyle Verreynne (2) was caught in two minds and played on against Nassem before Abbas claimed two more in successive deliveries with David Bedingham (14) and Corbin Bosch (0) both edging Abbas leg-cutters to ‘keeper Rizwan.
Rabada’s top score in test cricket is 47 but no other innings in his career will compare to this one as the victory ensured the Proteas’ place in the final of the World Test Championship which takes place at Lord’s in June next year.
Markram was rightly named player-of-the-match for his innings of 89 and 37 with runs at a premium throughout the match although Bosch played an equally significant role in the result with four wickets in the first innings and his unbeaten 81 which earned a vital first innings lead of 90.
The second test begins at Newlands in Cape Town on January 3.
SOUTH AFRICA: Tony de Zorzi, Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (captain), David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Dane Paterson.
PAKISTAN: Shan Masood (captain), Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Rizwan (wkt), Saud Shakeel, Salman Agha, Amir Jamal, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas.