Rabada shows he can be a new leader

It was the last ball of the 82nd over. Kagiso Rabada had just taken his sixth wicket, England's most attacking batmen, Ben Stokes, was gone, the follow-on target had not yet been reached, and Chris Woakes was only just surviving. He dabbed one to cover and chanced AB de Villiers' arm. In one smooth motion, the South Africa captain swooped, snatched and shied. Had he succeeded, Moeen Ali would have been short. Every member of the South African XI had their hands on their head and then.... Rabada smiled.

Morne Morkel at mid-off smiled, Dane Piedt smiled that irrepressible smile, Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla smiled from the behind the stumps and eventually even de Villiers smiled. For what felt like the first time in the series, South Africa's collective confidence had grown to the point where they could smile.

That's the difference a spearhead makes.

It would be 11.1 more overs before South Africa took their next wicket, 18.1 more before Rabada got his next scalp and 23 more overs before the England innings ended. In a series already gone, what mattered more is what preceded that.

The match was meandering with England at 208 for 3 and Joe Root living up to his name at the crease. Rabada was into his second spell, with an old ball. He was asking questions although he thought England's batsmen were answering most of them. "I think I was bowling too short," Rabada said. "That's not really attacking. If I was getting driven, then I would have been attacking."

He was unnecessarily hard on himself because in the second over of that spell, he did go full and beat Root with a delivery that nipped past the inside-edge. Four balls after that he lured Root into nicking off. "It was a big relief," he said.

Then came the big joy.

Rabada gave James Taylor a working over by continually searching the area around fourth stump before surprising him with a bouncer. In the same over, Jonny Bairstow gloved one and suddenly, Rabada had taken 3 for 0 and had his second five-for. Singlehandedly, in the space of 12 balls, he had given South African an advantage. That is what the leader of an attack is supposed to do.

"He has shown he is a grown man," a beaming Makhaya Ntini told ESPNcricinfo as he watched Rabada run in. "Already, he understands the role that he needs to play. He is able to overshadow the likes of Morkel and Abbott and he has become the star."

Rabada did not think that highly of himself and shifted the spotlight to his team-mates, who he praised for keeping the pressure on. "Kyle and Morne bowled so well. I think they deserved it more than I did. They just kept coming," Rabada said.

The truth is, so did he. Rabada bowled more overs than anyone else: 10 more than Abbott, who was injured in this innings and may play no further part in the match and 5.4 more than Morkel. There were times, such as after the rain delay and when the two spinners were in operation, when it looked like he should have bowled more, unkind as that may sound.

Perhaps the scariest thing is that he would have been up to it. "I could have bowled another 10 overs," he said. Ntini, a workhorse himself, would have been proud. "The game of cricket is not only about bowling 10 overs a day. Test match cricket is about bowling 30 overs, even 40 if you are fit enough," Ntini said although, like Michael Holding, he would like to see Rabada managed well.

Holding joked on commentary that Rabada needed a stretcher towards the end but Ntini did not go that far. "The next Tests are only six months away. He has got plenty of time to recover."

For now, the only Test that matters is this one and, as Ntini pointed out, Rabada is shaping up to be "the hero." After those three wickets, he returned to take out Stokes, again with a full ball, and then to claim Stuart Broad. He went for some runs in between but he also ignited South Africans on and off the field.

"I am so excited. Happiness is understatement. I am excited to watch him in the long run," Ntini said. "He came back from the Test series against India with no fear of anything. He puts it out there that you are the one that should fear me now, not me being worried about who I am bowling to. Yes, he's still got to face Australia, Sri Lanka, but the main thing is that if he can continue and have his head grounded, nothing will change. He is almost like a young apple tree that is growing very, very fast in a desert."

Ntini's metaphor is apt in more ways than one. Rabada has come at a time when South Africa's attack, along with its team, is in transition. All of his six Tests have taken place with at least one member of the premier pace pack missing: Morne Morkel on his first debut, Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander in the rest. He has had to step up very quickly to prove that the depth South Africa boast about is really there.

At the same time, Rabada has also arrived when transformation is a hot topic in South African cricket. He is a flag-bearer, like Ntini was, to show how effective it can be when it works.

Only someone with very strong will can handle that combination of massive expectations and at just 20, it is unsurprising Rabada is sometimes as overwhelmed as he is excited. "This is what I always wanted. I enjoy it. There are pressures but this is what I really want to do. When I was growing up, I wanted to play any international sport and cricket was the one I was best at. When I ponder over it I think, 'am I really doing this?'" Rabada said. "But I don't think I've arrived yet."

If that is the case, international batsmen will be fretting over the day that he does.