Rabada stars on CSA awards evening

● Proteas fast bowler Kagiso Rabada collected a deserved six-for at last night's Cricket South Africa awards at the Sandton Convention Centre.

While he shared the stage with Dane van Niekerk as South Africa’s cricketers of the year in their respective categories, Rabada was the first to collect six gongs in one event.

That explains why CSA fought hard to ensure he escaped suspension in the controversial four-test series against Australia.

He was man of the series with 23 wickets at 19.26 after displays in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town turned the series on its head after a 118-run reversal in the test in Durban.

With suspension looming after a collision with now-deposed Australian captain Steve Smith after dismissing him in the first innings of the second test, Rabada tore through the Australian batting.

His match figures of 11/150 changed the shape of the series and was the pick of a bowling unit that saw each frontline member snare five-wicket hauls in the series.

Pace, hostility, accuracy and more importantly, late lateral movement were his hall- marks and after watching Mitchell Starc blow away the lower order in consecutive innings in Durban, Rabada more than returned the favour for the rest of the series.

Rabada’s limited-overs efforts were rewarded with the ODI Player of the Year gong in a tough limited-overs year for the Proteas.

On top of the Cricketer of the Year and the Test Cricketer of the Year awards, Rabada won Players’ Player of the Year, Fans’ Player of the Year and the Delivery of the Year.

In a season where Rabada delivered peaches like they were going out of fashion, the “jaffa” he produced to detonate David Warner’s off stump in Australia’s first innings of the third test at Newlands was the deserved winner. The Australian had launched an unbridled assault that threatened to change the nature of the game.

Aiden Markram (Newcomer of the Year), David Miller (Always Original award) and AB de Villiers (T20I Cricketer of the Year) were the other winners.

Laura Wolvaardt collected the Women’s Players’ Player of the Year and ODI Cricketer of the Year prizes. Chloe Tryon won the T20 Player of the Year gong.

The Titans also had a ceremony to remember, with Tabraiz Shamsi (Momentum 1-Day and Ram Slam T20 Cricketer of the Year) and Mark Boucher (Coach of the Year) being rewarded for their efforts.

Rabada was the first to collect six gongs in one event