London [UK], June 12 : South African pace legend Dale Steyn reflected on Kagiso Rabada's five-wicket haul, saying that whenever he sees an opportunity, he "goes for the kill" and termed his spell as "outstanding".
Rabada's five-wicket haul was the highlight moment of a low-scoring day one of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final between Australia and South Africa at Lord's. Rabada's five-wicket haul took his Test tally to 332, helping him surpass Allan Donald to become fourth-highest wicket-taker in Tests. His star-studded fifer included Usman Khawaja, Cameron Green, Beau Webster, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc.
"He (Rabada) got the ball to swing well. It started with Alex Carey playing a poor first-ball shot to Keshav Maharaj--he did not need to play that. There was a sweeper out too. His dismissal opened up an end, and then Rabada came in and did what he does best--picked up wickets. Jansen also found swing and attacked the stumps, much like Australia did later. Australia actually took a leaf out of South Africa's book. Rabada, once he senses an opportunity, goes for the kill. He is just a fantastic bowler. When he retires, we will truly be able to talk about his greatness, but on Day 1, he was outstanding," Steyn, a JioStar expert, said.
Steyn also spoke on Starc's fiery spell of 2/10 in seven overs, which reduced SA to 43/4, with early wickets of Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton.
Steytn spoke on Starc's bowling, "He is really quick through the air, and I certainly think he rushes a lot of batsmen. When you are a bit nervous and your feet are not moving the way you want--just like Aiden Markram --he was caught in the crease, unsure whether to go forward or not. Starc had already gone past the bat a few times, maybe even beaten him on the inside edge once or twice."
"Then Rickelton decided he could hit it through the covers, and, the best Test bowlers in the world have this ability to pull their length back just slightly. A batter thinks he has got it covered, but then it kicks up, moves just a little more, finds the edge. That is what Starc, (Pat) Cummins, and (Josh) Hazlewood have done so well over the years," he added.
Steyn also lauded Starc for his "big-match temperament" which has been around since years.
"He has done it before, he believes he can do it again--and when he does, it becomes a habit. He also builds a reputation. He gets the backing of his captain. We know how he is going to do it, and if you look at his wickets, they are all very similar," he concluded.
Coming to the match, after Australia was put to bat first by SA, they sunk to 67/4 at the end of the first session. A 79-run stand between Steve Smith (66 in 112 balls, with 10 fours) and Beau Webster (72 in 92 balls, with 11 fours) and Webster's 46-run stand with Alex Carey (23 in 31 balls, with four boundaries) pushed Australia near to 200-run mark. But Kagiso Rabada (5/51) and Marco Jansen (3/49) continued applying pressure, reducing the Aussies to 212.
SA had an even nightmarish start, losing their four wickets for 43 runs at the end of day's play, with none of their batters touching 20-run mark. Mitchell Starc got two wickets, while skipper Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood got one wicket each. SA trails by 169 runs.