“It feels like a home game,” Rabada said after his heroics. “I’m just happy I could do a job out there. All of us started really well, I just got the rewards today.”
Rabada’s performance not only set the tone for South Africa’s challenge in the final, but also brought him personal milestones. He made an early impact with two key wickets in the morning session, but it was his spell after tea that truly lit up Lord’s
His third scalp, clean bowling Australian captain Pat Cummins, saw him tie with the legendary Allan Donald at 330 Test wickets. Moments later, dismissing Beau Webster, he overtook Donald to move into fourth place on South Africa’s all-time Test wicket-takers list
His final victim, Mitchell Starc, sealed his five-wicket haul and earned him a second entry on the prestigious Lord’s honours board. “You always felt on this wicket, any ball had their name on it,” Rabada remarked, acknowledging the challenging conditions for batters throughout the day
The applause from the South African supporters in the stands was thunderous each time Rabada returned to the boundary after a bowling spell. The crowd’s energy and support visibly lifted the 29-year-old, who had been through a testing period earlier in the year. In January, Rabada tested positive for a recreational drug and admitted to the offence
Although he was initially handed a three-month suspension, his participation in educational programs reduced the ban to just one month, served during April, in the midst of the IPL 2025. Despite some criticism over the perceived leniency, Cricket South Africa stood firmly behind their premier pacer, preparing him for possible backlash in the high-stakes WTC final. If any negativity was directed at him, it was drowned out by the cheers that echoed around Lord’s following his match-turning performance
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