Kagiso Rabada becomes the youngest South African to complete 100 Test wickets

The South African speedster Kagiso Rabada produced one of the best bowling performances in the 2nd Test match against Bangladesh to help them register their biggest innings margin win. Rabada picked up 5-fers in both the innings as his match figures read 10/63. His average of 6.3 runs per wicket in the game is the 2nd best for a South African after Dale Steyn’s 5.45 during his 11/60 against Pakistan in 2013.

At 22, Rabada carries the burden of leading the South African bowling attack in the absence of their senior bowlers due to injuries and fitness troubles. However, the young pacer is unaffected by his responsibilities as he completed 100 wickets in Test cricket with the help of the ten wickets in the Test at Bloemfontein. Thus, Rabada became the youngest from South Africa to achieve the milestone.

In fact, no South African player managed to take 100 Test wickets before turning 25. Dale Steyn was the youngest to the milestone before Rabada among the South Africans as he completed 100 Test wickets when he was 24 years and 248 days old. Overall, he is the 5th youngest to complete the Test milestone and the 3rd youngest among the pace bowlers.

Youngest to complete 100 wickets in Test cricket:

(Age as on the date of completion of 100 wickets)

Rabada needed only 22 Test matches to complete 100 wickets and thus became the joint 3rd fastest among South Africans to reach the milestone. Vernon Philander, in 19 Tests, was the quickest to complete 100 Test wickets for South Africa and the joint 3rd quickest in the world. Dale Steyn, the previous youngest South African to complete 100 wickets, was the fastest when he reached the milestone in 20 Tests before Philander broke the record. Rabada shares the 3rd spot with Hugh Tayfield and Allan Donald, who also needed 22 Tests to complete 100 wickets.

Quickest to 100 wickets in Test cricket for South Africa:

(Stats as on October 8, 2017)