Rabada ripped through the England batting lineup to return figures of 7/112 as the visitors were bowled out for 342 in reply to South Africa’s 475 in the first innings on day three in the fourth and final Test. The exploits of Rabada helped South Africa to a 133-run lead in the first innings, and by stumps they had extended it to 175 as South Africa look to gain a consolation win in the four-match series England lead 2-0.
“I don’t think I’ve arrived yet. There’s still lots of work to be done. It felt good to take these seven wickets, but I thought Kyle Abbot and Morne Morkel bowled so well that if they got the seven wickets they would’ve deserved it more than I did,” said the humble 20-year-old Rabada.
“I didn’t think I bowled that well, I bowled okay in spells. But I’ll take it. At the Wanderers I felt a lot better, now at Centurion I was just okay. People kept telling me that Test cricket is the real deal, and I think I’ve learnt that. There’s very little margin for error. You have to bowl for long periods of time.”
Rabada claimed both England wickets on day two as they reached 138/2 at the close of play, but on day three Rabada produced a match-turning spell of 3/3 from 4 overs including two maidens during the day to leave the visitors reeling on 211/6 at lunch.
Rabada said the bowling unit had simply executed their plan better on the third day to nip the visitors out.
“The plan this morning was just to stick to the basics. To try and bowl as many balls as possible in the right area. I just thought once I got Joe Root out, it was a big relief. The day before I was a bit all over the place, Alastair Cook kept pulling and cutting me as I was bowling a bit too short. This morning I tried to rectify it, and as a bowling unit we got our rewards. Morne and Kyle bowled magnificently well.”
And despite a heavy workload of 29 overs, Rabada felt he could still keep his performance at the same level.
“I wasn’t tired, I think I could’ve bowled another 10 overs.”
The big concern for the Proteas is the fitness of Abbott who left the field late in the day with a tight left hamstring. Abbott bowled 19 overs in the innings which included nine maidens as he conceded just 36 runs without taking a wicket. It was unclear if he would be able to bowl again in the match.
“If Kyle Abbott doesn’t bowl in the second innings, we’ll just have to bowl more overs.
“We’re in a good position, we have a strong lead. The wicket is deteriorating, it’s not going to be easy to bat last on this wicket. We need to keep building on this lead.”
Source: African News Agency (ANA)
