KG Rabada cleans up at Cricket SA’s annual awards

Kagiso Rabada and Dane van Niekerk were recognised in the company of the country’s cricketing elite when they were both named South African Cricketer of the Year in their respective categories at a glittering Cricket South Africa (CSA) awards function in Sandton on Saturday evening.

Rabada and Van Niekerk had both been previously named South African Men’s Cricketer of the Year and South African Women’s Cricketer of the Year respectively in 2016.

It was a six-star evening for Rabada who won no fewer than six awards and he has now done it both in 2016 and 2018.

No other cricketer has ever won more than five awards.

In addition to the main award, Rabada was named Test Cricketer of the Year and ODI Cricketer of the Year, was honoured by his peers by being named SA Players’ Player of the Year and by the fans on being named SA Fans Player of the Year.

He also won the award for the Delivery of the Year when he dismissed David Warner in the third Sunfoil Test match between the Proteas and Australia at Newlands in March this year.

It has been a remarkable year for Rabada, who rose to the No. 1 ranking in the world in Test match cricket, cracking the 900-point barrier and is currently the leading wicket-taker in the 2018 calendar year with 38 dismissals at an average of 19.65.

He is also ranked No. 7 in ODI cricket and was named in the ICC Test XI for the 2017 calendar year.

The only awards he did not win for which he was eligible were the Standard Bank T20 International Player of the Year award that went to AB de Villiers and the Always Original Award that went to David Miller for his world record T20 International century against Bangladesh.

The International Newcomer of the Year award went to Aiden Markram who scored exactly 1 000 runs in his debut Test season at an average of 55.55 and also stood in as ODI captain at the tender age of 23.

Van Niekerk also had a stellar year that saw her ranked as the No. 2 all-rounder in women’s international cricket and the No. 9 ranked bowler.

She achieved an historic milestone at the ICC Women’s World Cup when she returned the stunning figures of 4/0 against the West Indies and led the Momentum Proteas to their best ever performance at this tournament when they lost by the narrowest of margins in the semi-finals to eventual champions England.

“Simply outstanding! What a year both Kagiso and Dane have had,” commented CSA Acting Chief Executive, Thabang Moroe.

“They have both shown the maturity of seasoned campaigners with performances that have really counted when needed most, often blowing away the opposition in the process.”