‘Honour to be on that list with those amazing players’: Rabada on reaching 300

‘We were really surprised how the wicket played. It is turning for the spinners and seaming for the seamers’

It was not only the Bangladesh players and local observers who were taken aback by the amount of success the seam bowlers had on the opening day of the first Test in Dhaka on Monday — Kagiso Rabada was too.

“We were really surprised how the wicket played, we thought it would turn and not really nip, but with the new ball there was movement off the wicket. It is turning for the spinners and seaming for the seamers,” said Rabada.

They were perfect conditions for attaining a milestone, which Rabada did when he left Mushfiqur Rahim’s stumps strewn across the Sher-e Bangla Stadium’s turf. His 300th Test wicket came amid a dominant performance by South Africa’s four-man attack, which knocked over Bangladesh for 106 after the hosts had won the toss and chosen to bat.

At stumps the Proteas reached 140/6, a lead of 34.

“When I came on to bowl, I wasn't thinking about the wickets; I’m thinking about how we are going to win this Test having lost the toss and bowling first,” Rabada said.

But with Wiaan Mulder taking three wickets in the first half-hour, some of the pressure on Rabada was eased. He was on the brink of achieving the landmark in South Africa’s last Test against the West Indies in August but a missed catch in the last hour left him on 299. 

Not that Rabada was bothered having to wait. And while he would have enjoyed taking it in the Caribbean, where so many of the sport’s best fast bowlers have come from — including some like Michael Holding, who Rabada holds in high regard — Dhaka holds special meaning for him too.

“I have fond memories of playing here,” he said on Tuesday, jokingly adding that “this ground really assists the seam bowlers”.

Rabada made his international debut at the Sher-e Bangla Stadium in 2015, taking a hat-trick in an ODI to mark the occasion.

On Tuesday he joined Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini, Shaun Pollock, Allan Donald and Morne Morkel as the only South African bowlers to take 300 Test wickets.

“It’s an honour to represent South Africa — and to be on that list with those amazing players is also an honour.   

“When it happened it was just relief. Everyone, in the back of their minds, plays for milestones. The way my teammates support me, and the way we support each other, it really felt good. I won’t forget it. It was a special moment.”

The next goal is to build on their lead, with any figure close to 100 putting Bangladesh under pressure.

“We just want as many runs as we can get,” said Rabada.