IPL final: Rabada's daring crack at all-time record

The dice is probably still loaded against it ... but Kagiso Rabada has given himself the chance of equalling or bettering the record for most wickets in a single Indian Premier League season.

By grabbing four for 29 for victorious Delhi Capitals in the qualifier against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, the supremely consistent South African paceman simultaneously ensured himself of one last chance - in Tuesday's Dubai final (16:00 SA time) against Mumbai Indians - at the landmark.

Rabada moved to 29 tournament scalps, overtaking Mumbai’s own strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah (27) in the process and now eyeing the tournament record of 32 set by Dwayne Bravo for Chennai Super Kings in 2013.

He was trailing Bumrah by one wicket in the race for this year’s purple cap at the start of his fourth and last over (the 19th) toward the climax on Sunday, but three wickets in the space of three legal deliveries - he was denied a hat-trick chance by a wide in between - saw him soar past his Indian international rival.

Earlier, Rabada had had the satisfaction of knocking over Sunrisers’ captain and old Australian adversary David Warner with a beautiful, swinging yorker for two; the left-handed opener could only deflect the ball onto the stumps off his pads as he tried desperately to keep it out.

Bumrah now needs three wickets more than Rabada gets when they lock horns in the showpiece (Mumbai are defending champions) if he is to eclipse the Johannesburg-born competitor for tournament wickets.

But the Proteas favourite should also be mindful of something else: a repeat of his “four-for” in the final would see him overhaul Bravo’s all-time record that has stood for some seven years.

Rabada is already assured now of being the Delhi franchise’s own standalone record wicket-taker for a single IPL: He had shared the previous landmark (25) with compatriot Morne Morkel.

The current SA spearhead had grabbed 25 in last season’s campaign, while Morkel got his tally - when the team was still Delhi Daredevils - in 2012.

Rabada’s Proteas colleague Anrich Nortje did not manage a wicket in Sunday’s qualifier, but he still lies joint-fifth for most wickets in the 2020 event (20) and can sneak higher in the showpiece.

Between them, the destructive pace pair have accounted for 49 wickets by the Capitals this season, so one more by either in the final takes them to a shared “half-century”.

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