South African speedster Kagiso Rabada was overjoyed after taking his first fifer in Test cricket since March 2018 in the first match of the two-Test series against the West Indies on Saturday (May 12).
At the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground in St Lucia, Rabada managed a single wicket in the first innings whereas his teammates Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje returned with impressive figures of 5/19 and 4/35 respectively to restrict the hosts to paltry 97 in Saint Lucia.
Well, things turned in Rabada’s way in the second innings, as he took the first five-for (5/34) in Test cricket since March 2018 to help South Africa beat West Indies by an innings and 63 runs on Saturday.
After the game, Rabada likened his emotions to the feeling when a batsman feels after scoring a hundred after a lean patch, though, he hasn’t much had changed about his bowling in the last three years.
As reported by ESPNCricinfo, Rabada said: “You measure the highest accolades in cricket by scoring hundreds and taking five-fors and ten-fors. It's something you always strive to do. Unfortunately, it hasn't happened for me in recent years but I'm glad that's happened today.
The only thing you can judge yourself on is being consistent in your preparation. It's like scoring a hundred. Who wouldn't be happy with scoring a hundred? I am really glad about the performance I put in.”
The 26-year-old pacer said South Africa is a young team and rebuilding, and this massive win over the West Indies is a big booster for them as they are aiming to taking forward the positives in the second and final Test from June 18 and coming games to get better their rankings.
He further explained, “We're a young team and we are rebuilding. Even our most experienced players are young, like myself and Quinny [de Kock]. Dean is our most experienced but for me, at 26, to be one of the most experienced paints a picture of how young we are as a team.
It's going to give us massive confidence not only moving into the next Test match but moving into the next few years. We can't take anything for granted but just take all the positives that we've done in this Test match and keep building on those. This win has given us a lot of confidence.”
Rabada also hopes things will stabilize and results will keep improving from now for the side. He signed off by saying, “We've got so much potential in our team. In this Test match, it came out. We're hoping for more of the same. It has happened in the past and we are hoping for more of the same in the future.”
(With ESPNCricinfo Inputs)
