RABADA’S ROONEY MOMENT
Remember the name as South Africa starlet Kagiso destroys England with seven-wicket haul
For all England’s endof-series lethargy and the failure to take their chances to get a grip on this final Test, this was the day that Kagiso rabada announced himself as a bowler of rare talent and a role model of infinite value.
remember the name, as Clive Tyldesley once said of Wayne rooney, because this 20-year-old has the potential to become not only a star of world cricket but an important figure at a challenging time for the people of South Africa.
It is hardly revelatory to consider rabada, with a five-wicket haul against England in Johannesburg only last week and best one-day figures of six for 16 already to his name, a fast bowler of considerable promise.
Yet the way he stood up to lead the South African attack yesterday and take seven English wickets to earn a commanding position for his side had the feel of a coming-of-age performance, the moment when a real star was born.
Skin colour should, of course, be a total irrelevance in the modern world but South Africa’s history means their cricket needs rabada and Temba Bavuma to become mainstays of the new side they are already starting to build.
When you also consider that the South African economy is in meltdown and change is not coming quickly enough for many people 22 years after the end of apartheid, then rabada is carrying a heavy load on his broad shoulders.
How he responded to the responsibility here as South Africa, without Dale Steyn for virtually the whole series and with Kyle Abbott out injured yesterday, earned the big lead that should bring them a consolation win.
This was superb pace bowling, peaking at almost 94 miles per hour, in helpful conditions from a precocious young cricketer who could achieve almost anything in the game if he is handled with care.
‘This is what I always wanted to do,’ said rabada, who insisted he was not tired after his efforts. ‘There are pressures but it’s great and I’m loving it.
‘Sometimes when you ponder what’s happening you think: “Am I really doing this?” and it’s amazing but I certainly don’t feel as though I’ve arrived yet.
‘I’m happy because taking seven wickets is not going to happen too often.’
He certainly had plenty of work to do in bowling 29 overs to take seven for 112 — the best figures by a South African against England since readmission in 1991 — while scything through an England team that finally awoke from their slumbers of the first two days and battled hard almost certainly a little too late.
Abbott’s injury left South Africa overly reliant on rabada and Morne Morkel, who has been in the ‘red zone’ and susceptible to injury in this series, and with part-time spin backing up specialist Dane Piedt, in conditions made for seam and swing.
Yet England could not quite take advantage, with no batsman hanging around long enough to reach the big century that would have done much to make up for the poor bowling and fielding that allowed South Africa to notch 475.
It was always going to be hard once Alastair Cook, adding just nine runs in the first hour and failing to find his fluency of Saturday, had fallen 41 short of becoming the first England batsman to reach 10,000 in Test cricket.
But once rabada had blasted away Joe root, again falling between 50 and a hundred, James Taylor and Jonny Bairstow in 12 balls without conceding a run in 17 minutes before lunch, England’s task had become nigh on impossible.
of the three, Taylor, trying to be too aggressive, became the latest of the England players who need a good Test here to cement their places for the summer to leave themselves with a nervous wait until selection in May.
With England in disarray at 211 for six, there was a very real chance of a three-day finish but at least they avoided the follow on and climbed to 342 all out, a deficit of 133, thanks to the batting depth which sees Chris Woakes at nine.
And it was the wicket of Ben Stokes, who fell to the second new ball, that pleased rabada most. ‘He’s a magnificent player, as he showed in Cape Town, so it felt good to take his wicket,’ said rabada before adding, intriguingly: ‘There are a whole lot of other reasons why I’m pleased to get him as well.’ Care to elaborate KG? ‘No comment,’ said rabada with a smile, suggesting he may have been riled by Stokes’ penchant for chat on the field.
Moeen Ali’s poor winter has passed under the radar to an extent but he needed his first half-century since Edgbaston last summer until he became the last man to fall after hitting 11 silky boundaries in his 61.
It left England needing Stuart Broad, or someone, to repeat the world-class bowling of the Wanderers to give them any chance of a third win in this series and stop survival becoming the height of their final Test ambitions.
Jimmy Anderson raised hopes by having Dean Elgar caught by Bairstow but South Africa survived without further loss to leave England with a mountain to climb to stop another series ending, a la the Ashes, in a damp squib.