At Newlands in Cape Town on October 31, Kagiso Rabada rewrote Test cricket history by becoming the fastest bowler to reach 350 wickets when measured by balls
bowled. The milestone arrived in the seventh over of Australia's second innings during the third Test, when Rabada dismissed Travis Head off the 6th delivery of that over, having faced Head for 26 balls and conceded 14 runs in that spell.
Rabada reached the landmark in 13,808 balls across 75 Tests for South Africa, comfortably beating the previous record of 14,719 balls held by fellow Proteas great Dale Steyn. Steyn had taken 69 Tests to reach the same tally, meaning Rabada also surpassed him in terms of matches required. Former Pakistan fast bowler Waqar Younis sits third on the all-time list, having needed 14,905 balls to claim his 350th Test wicket.
In Australia's second innings, Rabada had already removed Marnus Labuschagne and Matt Renshaw before sealing the record wicket, finishing with three scalps in that innings. His 350th wicket came in his 75th Test, placing him alongside West Indian great Malcolm Marshall, who also reached the milestone in 75 matches, making the pair joint-fourth among fast bowlers in terms of fewest Tests needed.
How did Rabada's record compare to the all-time fastest list?
Among all bowlers in Test history, the benchmark for reaching 350 wickets in the fewest matches has long been associated with Sri Lanka's Muthiah Muralidaran, who achieved the feat in his 66th Test. India's Ravichandran Ashwin equalled that match-based record in 2019, making both spinners the joint-fastest in terms of Tests played. Rabada, at 75 Tests, is the quickest fast bowler to the milestone by matches and the outright quickest by balls bowled, a metric that strips away the advantage spinners hold through higher over rates.
Steyn's previous balls-bowled record of 14,719 had stood as the benchmark for pace bowlers, and Rabada undercut it by more than 900 deliveries. Waqar Younis, who needed 14,905 balls, remains third. The gap between Rabada and Waqar on this list is over 1,000 deliveries, underlining how efficiently the South African has taken wickets throughout his Test career.
Australia were set a target of 288 in their second innings and were bowled out for 111, with Rabada's three wickets contributing to a South Africa victory by 176 runs. The Proteas clinched the three-match series 2-1 with the win, having trailed 1-0 after the first Test before winning the next two. Simon Harmer also played a significant role in dismissing Australia in the second innings.
