London, June 12 (IANS) South Africa’s pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada, who leapfrogged legendary Allan Donald as the fourth-highest wicket-taker for the Proteas in Tests, said he feel special to be listed among the greats.

Rabada took a 5-wicket haul against Australia in the opening day of the World Test Championship final at Lord’s. His haul put him on 332 Test wickets, which took him past Allan Donald and into fourth place on South Africa’s all-time list. Only Dale Steyn, Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini remain ahead of him.

“To be named in that list of bowlers is special. As a player growing up and representing South Africa, I’ve been inspired by those who have come before and seen what they have done on the big stage. To be listed among those names is special and long may it continue,” Rabada said on the milestone.

The seasoned campaigner claimed the wickets of opener Usman Khawaja and Cameron Green in his opening burst. He then got rid of Aussie skipper Pat Cummins, Beau Webster, and Mitchell Starc to claim his 17th five-wicket haul in Tests. His spell helped South Africa bundle the defending champions out for 212. His spell helped South Africa bundle the defending champions out for 212.

But Rabada believes the Proteas could’ve managed to run through the Aussie batting much sooner. “212, we’d take that. We thought we should’ve had them at 160, but that’s just the way the game goes,” the pacer told reporters at the end of the day’s play at Lord’s.

While Rabada was the pick of the bowlers for South Africa, Australia pacers also made early inroads towards the end of Day 1 at Lord’s. Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Cummins all struck with the ball as South Africa closed the day at 43/4.

“I think the ball is nipping quite a bit, at times nipping off the slope quite a lot. But I still felt like batters could get in. If you just put more balls in the right area for a long period of time that would create chances. Right now, we’re 43/4, not the start we were looking for but there’s a lot of cricket to be played in this Test match. So we’re just going to keep going for it.”

–IANS

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