Kagiso Rabda Goes Past Dale Steyn, Waqar Younis To Reach Major Milestone In Test Cricket

Kagiso Rabada became the second-fastest South African to reach 350 Test wickets on Saturday, October 31. He did it in his 75th Test for the Proteas in Cape Town against Australia.

The 31-year-old fast bowler needed four wickets to get there. He took one wicket in the first innings and then three in his first four overs of Australia’s second innings.

The feat puts Rabada behind only Dale Steyn among South Africans in terms of speed to 350 Test wickets. Rabada reached the mark in the third Test against Australia.

He did most of the work on Saturday morning. After a quiet first innings by his standards, Rabada struck three times early in the second innings to move from 347 to 350 and add another mark to South Africa’s Test record book.

South African Milestone

Rabada now has 350 Test wickets for South Africa in 75 matches. That makes him the second-fastest South African to the mark.

Steyn still leads that list. He took his 350th Test wicket in his 69th match and remains South Africa’s highest wicket-taker in the format.

Rabada’s latest milestone adds to his standing in South Africa’s pace-bowling line. It also highlights how quickly he has moved through the country’s all-time Test charts.

Fastest to 350 Wickets For South Africa (Matches)

Dale Steyn - 69 Tests

Kagiso Rabada - 75 Tests

Shaun Pollock - 87 Tests

Makhaya Ntini - 90 Tests

Fastest To 350

The wider Test benchmark among pacers belongs to Richard Hadlee. The New Zealand great also reached 350 Test wickets in 69 matches.

The overall world record is held by Muthiah Muralidaran. The Sri Lankan spinner got to 350 in his 66th Test.

R Ashwin later matched that pace in 2019. He equalled Muralidaran’s 66-Test mark.

Fewest Tests To 350 wickets Among Pacers
69 - Richard Hadlee / Dale Steyn
70 - Dennis Lillee
74 - Glenn McGrath
75 - Malcolm Marshall / Kagiso Rabada*
78 - Waqar Younis
79 - Imran Khan

Fewest Balls To 350 Wickets

Kagiso Rabada cemented his name in cricket history by becoming the fastest bowler in Test history to reach 350 wickets in terms of balls bowled. Clocking the milestone in just 13,808 deliveries, the South African pace spearhead shattered the previous world record held by his legendary compatriot Dale Steyn, who reached the landmark in 14,719 balls.

Rabada’s extraordinary strike rate sees him sit comfortably atop an elite list of fast-bowling greats, pulling ahead of Pakistan’s Waqar Younis (14,905 balls), West Indies icon Malcolm Marshall (16,285 balls), and Australian left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc (16,908 balls). Reaching the 350-wicket summit faster than any bowler before him underscores Rabada’s relentless lethal consistency and his status as one of modern cricket's ultimate match-winners.

Fewest balls To 350 Test wickets
13808 - Kagiso Rabada*
14719 - Dale Steyn
14905 - Waqar Younis
16285 - Malcolm Marshall
16908 - Mitchell Starc

Next Rabada Targets

Rabada can still climb higher in the same match. If he takes at least five wickets in Australia’s second innings in the third Test, he will go past Allan Donald’s tally of 602 wickets and become South Africa’s fourth-highest wicket-taker.

A six-wicket haul would take him even farther. That would move him past Steyn’s tally and make him South Africa’s highest wicket-taker in Tests against Australia.