On this day in 11 June 2025, Kagiso Rabada produced one of those spells.
The World Test Championship final at Lord’s was always going to demand something special. The stage was enormous. Australia were the opposition. Few assignments in Test cricket come tougher. Yet Rabada looked completely at home.
Fast bowlers often talk about wanting the big moments. Very few take them quite like Rabada did.
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Having been asked to bowl first, South Africa needed an early breakthrough and their spearhead provided it. Usman Khawaja was removed. Cameron Green followed shortly afterwards. Suddenly Australia were wobbling and Lord’s had come alive.
What stood out was not just the wickets, but the control with which he bowled. Rabada bowled with the sort of discipline that wears batters down. It was the accuracy and intensity that stood out, building pressure and drawing errors from the batters.
Australia, as they so often do, worked their way back into the contest through Steve Smith and Beau Webster. The day began to lean slightly in their direction. Rabada came back into the attack.
Great bowlers have a habit of reappearing just when their captain needs them most. Rabada broke partnerships, cleaned up the lower order and finished with magnificent figures of 5/51 as Australia were dismissed for 212.
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In doing so, he moved past South African great Allan Donald on the country’s all-time Test wicket list, another milestone in a career that continues to grow in stature.
The scorecard will tell you it was a five wicket haul. It won’t tell you how significant every wicket felt. It won’t tell you how Rabada set the tone for the entire day.
The finest players are remembered for what they do when the spotlight is brightest. One year ago today, at the Home of Cricket, Rabada reminded everyone why he belongs among the game’s elite fast bowlers.
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