The best of Rabada wasn't in the balls that got the wickets

Kagiso Rabada insisted he would not be "Mr I Apologise too much" after his recreational drug ban and showed he has nothing to be sorry about when it comes to his bowling. His performance at Lord's was exactly what is expected of a big player in a big match: intimidating, incisive, and laced with unplayable deliveries that cut through the opposition.

In the immediate aftermath of day one of the WTC final, you may read that line and think it's more suited to the Australia attack given the way things ended, but save some headspace for a nod on how it started.

Rabada set the tone with the very first ball. It jagged away from Usman Khawaja and beat his outside edge. For the next three overs, Khawaja did not even attempt to score a run as Rabada tested him with "pace, bounce and movement", the three things the man himself says are his best attributes. The trick is not simply having them, it's "doing those things consistently", as Rabada put it in the post-match press conference.

He didn't concede a run until his 20th ball when Marnus Labuschagne managed to tuck him away to square leg. Next ball, Rabada squared Khawaja up, drew his edge, and David Bedingham took a fine catch at first slip. Rabada was away. Three balls later, Cameron Green went the same way and South Africa, through Rabada, were bossing the early exchanges.

The wickets are what will get him on the honours board but it was some of the deliveries in between that really wowed. In the second over of his second spell, Rabada bisected Beau Webster with a ball that hit the seam, snuck through his bat-pad gap, and passed just over the top of the middle stump. Then there was the wicket which should have been. Full and fast, Rabada hit Webster, on 4, on the back pad and half-appealed with no support.

South Africa must have heard a hard sound, as Webster hit his own pad, and thought it was an inside edge. They didn't push the issue but replays showed it was plumb.

Rabada found out moments later. "Corbin Bosch came down to fine leg and he said it was out and I was like, 'oh man'. It is a bit annoying," Rabada said. "He didn't start off too well there. It looked like he was going to get out any ball, but his positive intent got him through. Cricket's a funny game."

In the next over, Rabada beat Webster's inside and outside edges and he's right in saying it looked as though a nick-off was imminent. It came, but only much later. That Webster survived that spell from Rabada makes his 72 even more deserving and asks questions of whether the change bowlers in South Africa's attack, especially Lungi Ngidi, backed up their new-ball pair well enough.

Ngidi's eight overs cost 45 runs and he looked rusty. That South Africa picked him over Dane Paterson, who came off an excellent home summer and has 180 wickets at an average of 23 for Nottinghamshire, remains questionable but Rabada was never going to be the one to answer for that. Asked if he'd have any advice for Ngidi, he said he would, "just tell him to have a good night's sleep, have a nice steak and a nice milkshake, watch a movie and come back tomorrow".

Rabada didn't say it, but he and Ngidi will hope they don't have too much to do on the second day. If they do, they will want to do it more like Rabada did.

His final riposte was to run through the Australia tail with precision. He got one to straighten on Pat Cummins, who exposed his off stump and was bowled, removed Webster, and bowled Mitchell Starc to complete his second successive five-for at Lord's.

Rabada was received by former captain Graeme Smith, who is working as a commentator, on the boundary edge and was hugged before he was interviewed. The emotion was obvious. Rabada described his achievement as "really special" and quickly deflected the attention off himself and on to the bigger picture. "It means a lot for me to play for South Africa, I give my all each and every time."

Does it mean more than equalling Allan Donald on South Africa's Test wicket-takers' list? Though Rabada called Donald "a legend" when speaking to Smith and said afterwards that he was "inspired by those who've come before", there is a distinct sense that this will mean a lot less if South Africa don't walk away with something from this game. Especially as they got themselves off to an excellent start and sent hope soaring in what felt like a home crowd.

With South Africans filling the stands, Rabada received applause and his own version of the Seven Nation Army chant. Ninety minutes later, there was silence as Wiaan Mulder and Temba Bavuma barely scored a run. That swing in South Africa's fortunes has already made this Test gripping.

"In Test cricket there's always nerves," Rabada said. "Dealing with it is about understanding what the bottom line is, and the bottom line is if you're a bowler, try to bowl a good line and length; as a batter, it's about keeping the good ball out and scoring off it or scoring off balls that are not quite there and missed executions from the bowler. That's the bottom line. So everything else is just noise."

South Africa's bottom line at the end of day one is that even after Rabada did Rabada things, they were 169 runs behind and four of their top five have been dismissed. The captain and the lower-middle order have a massive task on their hands on a surface that is doing a lot, and seemed to do more once the clouds had cleared. All Rabada can do now is look for reasons that might change, for his batters' sake.

"The ball was nipping quite a bit and at times moving off the slope quite a lot, but I still felt like batters could get in," he said. "If you just bowled well and got more balls in the right area for a long period of time, then that's when you could create chances. But with this ball getting older, hopefully we can score some runs."