BAN vs SA 1st Test: Kagiso Rabada Becomes Sixth South African to Join 300 Wickets Club

South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada on Monday (October 21) claimed his 300th Test wicket during the first Test against Bangladesh at the Sher-E-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka.

Rabada achieved the feat by cleaning up Bangladesh senior batter Mushfiqur Rahim for 11. The 29-year-old became the sixth South African to take 300 wickets or more in Test cricket history.

With the dismissal of Rahim in the first session of day one's play, Rabada joined the likes of Dale Steyn, Shaun Pollock, Allan Donald, Makhaya Ntini and Morne Morkel in South Africa's Test 300 wickets club.

Steyn leads the chart for most wickets by a South African followed by Pollock, who held the lead since taking over the top spot from Donald. Ntini and Morkel also feature on the list.

Rabada is also the third quickest South African in terms of matches taken to reach 300 wickets in Test cricket. Here is a look at the South African players with most Test wickets followed by the quickest to the feat:

Most Wickets for South Africa in Tests

Dale Steyn - 439 wickets in 93 matches
Shaun Pollock - 421 wickets in 108 matches
Makhaya Ntini - 390 wickets in 101 matches
Allan Donald - 330 wickets in 72 matches
Morne Morkel - 309 wickets in 86 matches
Kagiso Rabada - 301 wickets in 65 matches
Jacques Kallis - 292 wickets in 166 matches
Vernon Philander - 224 wickets in 64 matches
Keshav Maharaj - 171 wickets in 53 matches
Hugh Tayfield - 170 wickets in 37 matches

Fastest to 300 Test Wickets for South Africa (in matches taken)

Dale Steyn - 61 matches
Allan Donald - 63 matches
Kagiso Rabada - 65 matches
Shaun Pollock - 74 matches
Makhaya Ntini - 74 matches

The South African pacer is, however, the fastest to reach the milestone in terms of balls bowled as he eclipsed greats like Waqar Younis, Steyn, Donald and Malcolm Marshall to achieve the feat:

Quickest to 300 Test wickets (balls bowled) - courtesty ESPN Cricinfo

11,817 balls - Kagiso Rabada (South Africa)
12,602 balls - Waqar Younis (Pakistan)
12,605 balls - Dale Steyn (South Africa)
13,672 balls - Allan Donald (South Africa)
13,728 balls - Malcolm Marshall (West Indies)

Coming back to the Mirpur Test, Rabada later added another scalp to his dismissal of Mushfiqur by removing Litton Das, who edged one to Tristan Stubbs at gully and departed for 1.

While Rabada claimed two wickets, the wrecker-in-chief was Wiaan Mulder, who removed Bangladesh's top order inside six overs, dismissing the opposition skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto as well as opener Shadman Islam and number three Mominul Haque.

Keshav Maharaj, who became the ninth highest wicket taker for the Proteas, claimed the final wicket, trapping Mehidy Hasan Miraz in front of the stumps right at the stroke of lunch to leave the hosts reeling at 60/6 after 26.1 overs.