January 7, 2025: South African speedster Kagiso Rabada achieved an unfortunate milestone during Day 4 of the second Test match against Pakistan in Cape Town. Rabada bowled his 50th no-ball in the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, ultimately finishing with a total of 54 no-balls in the current cycle. This marks an undesirable statistic for one of South Africa’s premier fast bowlers.
In the Newlands Test, Rabada struggled with his no-ball count, delivering 17 no-balls, 13 of which came in Pakistan’s second innings. This number was notably higher than his previous matches, contributing to his unwanted record for the cycle. Alzarri Joseph of the West Indies follows with 35 no-balls, ranking second in this regard.
While Rabada’s no-ball count caught attention, the second Test as a whole was an underwhelming outing for South Africa’s bowlers. Rabada, alongside Marco Jansen and Keshav Maharaj, each conceded over 100 runs in the match, marking the fourth time in the 21st century that three or more South African bowlers have given away 100+ runs in a home Test.
Rabada finished with match figures of 6/170, Jansen took 3/137, and Maharaj claimed 5/151. Despite these individual contributions, Pakistan’s batters, particularly Babar Azam and Abdullah Shafique, piled on runs, making it a tough day for the South African bowlers.
However, despite the personal struggles in this match, South Africa achieved a 10-wicket victory to seal a clean sweep of the series, finishing the cycle with 69.44% of the possible points. This impressive percentage ensured South Africa topped the standings in the WTC, ahead of Australia (63.73%)—who were unable to surpass South Africa’s point tally, even with a potential clean-sweep victory over Sri Lanka in their upcoming series.
With the WTC final against Australia scheduled for June 2025, South Africa has no more Test matches on their calendar leading up to the showdown. However, Proteas coach Shukri Conrad outlined potential preparations, saying, “We are going to try and get a Test match, possibly in the UK, against Ireland or Afghanistan, whoever is free.” If that doesn’t materialize, the team will make early preparations and camp in Canterbury ahead of the final.
As Rabada and the Proteas look ahead to the WTC final, the lessons from their recent match against Pakistan, including the issues with no-balls and the challenges faced by their bowling attack, will be important to address in their quest for success on the world stage.
