Rabada ready to turn up the heat on Aussies

If Australia’s top-order batsmen want an idea of what to expect from South Africa’s youngest and fastest pace bowler Kagiso Rabada, they won’t need to hunt far for some clues.

The shell-shocked members of the nation’s 2014 Under-19 World Cup squad, a number of whom recently turned out under the banner of a Cricket Australia XI in the Matador BBQs One-Day Cup, can tender chilling testimony.

Of the semi-final day in Dubai two years ago when then 19-year-old Rabada decided the best way to unsettle and unseat his young Australian rivals was to pepper them with short-pitched bowling at a speed that was rarely seen in such inexperienced company.

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On traditionally flat, unhelpful Emirati pitches.

The strapping right-arm quick destroyed Australia’s batting and their pursuit of a modest 230, grabbing three wickets in his opening four overs and finishing with a tournament-best 6-25 that set up South Africa for their inaugural World Cup triumph.

The sort of bowling that most of the young Australians had not witnessed any time prior, and hardly seen in the 30 months since until Rabada returned to haunt a few of them in last weekend’s two-day pink-ball tour match against a CA XI at Adelaide Oval.

In a six-over spell that no lesser judge than Dale Steyn rated as "really quick" and even more impressive because the still developing paceman routinely landed the ball "exactly where he wanted to".

Steyn has talked up Rabada’s credentials in the days leading into the first Commonwealth Bank Test at the WACA Ground starting on Thursday, a venue that historically has provided encouragement and delight for fast bowlers in precisely the way that Dubai does not.

"A lot of heat," was Steyn’s rapid-fire response when he was asked what the Australians could expect from Rabada on his maiden Test tour across the Indian Ocean.

"He’s really quick, and he’s got a great head on his shoulders.

"He’s always looking to learn and his record (29 wickets at 24.44 from eight Tests) is pretty amazing for such a young guy, especially a bowler.

"Because you only see bowlers tend to come into their stripes at maybe 26 or 27, especially fast bowlers once they’ve learned their trade."

Only current Proteas Test squad member Vernon Philander (30.98) and former great allrounder Mike Procter (36.93) can claim a better strike rate among South Africa bowlers than Rabada’s current strike of a wicket every 38.93 deliveries.

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Steyn, the most feared fast bowler in the world at around the time Rabada was frightening the World Cup out of his fellow under-19s, also had no hesitation in pronouncing his likely new-ball partner as much faster than he is.

A fact that 33-year-old Steyn suggested was self-evident given the 12-year age difference between the two.

While at the same time acknowledging that Rabada, who last year claimed the record for the best match figures by a bowler in South Africa’s domestic first-class competition (14-105) that was previously held by Steyn, has matured at almost the speed he bowls since making his international debut in 2014.

"It doesn’t feel like he’s been in this team for a long time but it’s actually almost three years now so he’s learned a lot and he’s an incredible talent," Steyn said.

"I (attribute much of that) to the culture and the environment in this team, I think he’s got about 10 years of experience in three years which is really great.

"I’m excited to see what he can do because in Adelaide the other night he was bowling really quick and he was landing the ball exactly where he wanted to.

"A lot of school kids are at that level now.

"I remember being at school and we weren’t too focused on that, but there’s a lot of focus in line and length, pace and all that stuff.

"So you see a lot of kids these days, 19 or 20 that can do what he does, but he’s just a level up from where they are.

"The guy’s got a lot of pace."

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