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South African quick Kagiso Rabada achieved an unwanted fifty on Day 4 of the second Test against Pakistan in Cape Town, reported ESPNCricinfo.
As the game headed towards its climax, Rabada bowled his 50th no-ball in the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. He ended the cycle with a whopping total of 54 no-balls. In the Newlands Test alone, Rabada bowled a total of 17 no-balls, with 13 of them coming in the second innings. After Rabada, the next on the unwanted list is West Indies quick Alzarri Joseph, with 35 no-balls to his name in the ongoing WTC cycle. Overall, the second Test was much of a forgettable outing for the bowlers across both teams, but especially for South Africa. The second match was just the fourth instance in the 21st century when three or more South African bowlers concerned more than 100 runs in a home Test. The pace duo Rabada, Marco Jansen and seasoned spinner Keshav Maharaj all gave away more than 100 runs in the second Test. Rabada returned with match figures of 6/170, Jansen 3/137 and Maharaj finished the match with 5/151. With a 10-wicket victory in the second Test, South Africa finished with 69.44 per cent of possible points across the cycle for table-topping bragging rights, with fellow finalist Australia (63.73 per cent of possible points) unable to eclipse the figure even with a clean sweep victory in their upcoming series against Sri Lanka. South Africa does not have a Test match scheduled between now and the final, though Proteas coach Shukri Conrad has outlined potential preparations. "We are going to try and get a Test match, possibly in the UK, against Ireland or Afghanistan, whoever is free," Conrad said as quoted from the ICC. "And if unsuccessful, we will obviously go out a couple of days earlier and make sure we camp there really well, probably in Canterbury," he added. (ANI)
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