Proteas ace Kagiso Rabada has given himself every opportunity of bowling himself into the Indian Premier League record books.
After grabbing 4-29 in the Delhi Capitals’ win over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday, Rabada needs ‘just’ three wickets in Tuesday’s final against the Mumbai Indians to tie the mark for most wickets taken in a single IPL tournament.
THREE SOUTH AFRICANS IN IPL FINAL
That record currently belongs to West Indian Dwayne Bravo who took 32 scalps for the Chennai Super Kings back in 2013.
The Mumbai Indians’ own Jasprit Bumrah is also in with a shot – albeit a longer one – of owning the record for himself.
Bumrah currently stands second in the standings for most wickets in 2020 with 27.
To be fair to Bumrah, the Indian bowler has played two fewer matches than Rabada and does possess a far superior average (13.92 v 17.79), economy rate (6.71 v 8.23) and strike rate (12.44 v 12.96).
The race for the purple cap for this year’s leading bowler is most certainly going down to the wire!
Rabada will have a familiar face in helping him spearhead the Delhi Capitals’ attack in Anrich Nortje who has taken 20 wickets to date.
Nortje also bowled the fastest ever recorded delivery in IPL history earlier in the tournament at 156.22km/h.
Rabada and Nortje will be up against another Proteas star in the Mumbai Indians’ line-up: wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock.
De Kock has shone with the bat during the tournament and finds himself in fifth place in the Most Runs category with 483 to date at an average of 37.15.
FINAL AT 16:00 SA TIME ON TUESDAY
The Mumbai Indians are four-time IPL champions – and the defending champions this year – while the Delhi Capitals are looking to break their title duck.
The first delivery in Tuesday’s final is due to be bowled at 16:00 SA time (GMT +2).
May the best team win!
