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Never felt so much pressure before - Rabada

Kagiso Rabada has said that he had never felt so much pressure in a game before and that it was crucial for him to keep a clear mind defending in the last over against MS Dhoni

Firdose Moonda
Firdose Moonda
11-Oct-2015
Kagiso Rabada has had to defend at the death before, with mixed results. "At school I have been required to bowl the last over quite a few times," he said. "And yeah, sometimes we lost, sometimes we won."
So it was a little different when he was asked to defend at the death in Kanpur. "To date, I have never felt that much pressure in a game simply because of the magnitude of the players and also the level of cricket: international cricket, fans. It was a big game today. There's no bigger stage than this. I was bowling to one of the best players in the world (MS Dhoni). I've seen players win games from that position."
He has also seen players lose games from there so "it was crucial for me to keep a clear mind." But with emotions running high and noise that may have seemed as suffocating as the heat, it was difficult to find some space to be silent with his own thoughts. So South Africa's two senior-most players tried to provide it. Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers flanked him to "try to brainstorm to see what the right ball to bowl was," as Amla explained.
Rabada had nearly ensured the match-winning with two wickets in two balls so his last delivery was about ensuring he did not do anything match-losing, like bowl an extra that would give India a chance to win. The right ball was anything but a no-ball or a wide but it was also a ball that South Africa had decided was going to be their stock delivery on the day and the one that Rabada had used to take his two wickets.
"I was speaking to AB and I said, 'we've been bowling back of a length, so what do you think about yorkers?,' and he said no because MS can pounce on those full balls," Rabada said.
"We spoke about it at the change as well and the batters said it was quite tough to hit back of a length and with the extra pace in our attack it was going to be harder. As the game went on we felt it was going to get harder and harder to bat because the pitch was deteriorating and it was two-paced. So we were very clear in that last over what we do."
All the clarity in the world has been known to fog over when the pressure is on but Rabada's ability to resist that is what set him apart. Even the man who is the personification of calm, Amla, was impressed by how well Rabada kept it together. "KG bowled exceptionally well to hold his composure like that," Amla said. "He has such maturity for a youngster."
It's worth remembering that Rabada is only 20 years old, has played the same number of internationals - 14 - as he has first-class matches and is still able to take charge in that fashion.
Someone else whose composure was under the spotlight was comeback kid Quinton de Kock, who made his first international appearance since being dropped in Bangladesh. De Kock scored 29 and seemed more in control of his game.
"Quinny batted exceptionally well upfront. He timed the ball better than anybody today, well, him and Rohit (Sharma)," Amla said. "He is such an exciting talent, he is a wonderful guy and he is extremely hungry. He had good success with the A team so he comes on the back of some good experience, recent experience, and he is in good touch. Hopefully in the series we will see the best of him."
Some may disagree with Amla about who timed the ball best. After all, de Villiers' 104 was paced perfectly but Amla reserved some praise for him too. "We all know he is the best batsman in the world and what he does, I don't think anybody in the world can do," Amla said. "The way he does it and the timing - very few guys can come in in the 20th over and still score a hundred the way he does. All of us, KG included, are happy that he is playing for us and KG doesn't have to bowl to him." Rabada would agree.

Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo's South Africa correspondent