Punjab Kings’ star pacer Kagiso Rabada etched his name in the history books as he became the fastest bowler to 100 IPL wickets.
The 27-year-old South African international surpassed the record held by Lasith Malinga during the Punjab Kings’ IPL 2023 clash against defending champions Gujarat Titans at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali on Thursday, April 13.
Rabada dismissed Gujarat Titans’ opening batter Wriddhiman Saha in his second over to claim his 100th IPL wicket in his 64th match in the high-profile T20 League.
That's 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐃! 🤌
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) April 13, 2023
Sadda 🦁 @KagisoRabada25 is the fastest bowler to reach 💯 #TATAIPL wickets. 👏#PBKSvGT #JazbaHaiPunjabi #SaddaPunjab pic.twitter.com/O2zDCmxvVV
Former Mumbai Indians’ fast bowler Malinga took 70 matches to bag 100 IPL wickets. Malinga finished his IPL career with 170 wickets in 122 matches at an average of 19.80 and an economy of 7.14.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel are the joint third-fastest to 100 IPL wickets. Both the fast bowlers took 81 matches to reach the magnificent milestone.
Fastest to 100 IPL wickets (by matches)
64 - Kagiso Rabada
70 - Lasith Malinga
81 - Bhuvneshwar Kumar
81 - Harshal Patel
83 - Rashid Khan
Rabada also pipped Dwayne Bravo’s record of the least number of balls needed to pick up 100 IPL wickets. The Proteas pacer has now scalped 100 IPL wickets in 1438 balls while Bravo took 1619 balls to achieve the feat.
Fastest to 100 IPL wickets (by balls taken)
1438 - Kagiso Rabada
1619 - Dwayne Bravo
1622 - Lasith Malinga
1647 - Harshal Patel
Rabada has been leading the Punjab Kings’ bowling attack since IPL 2022. He was the highest wicket-taker for the franchise in the 2022 edition as he claimed 23 wickets in 13 matches. He had also won the Purple Cap in the 2020 edition of the IPL.