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Cape Town – Morne Morkel was the man of the moment at Newlands on Friday as he became just the fifth South African in history to take 300 Test wickets.
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Recalled to the side for the third Test against Australia, it took the 33-year-old just 7.3 overs to take the three wickets he needed in Australia’s first innings to reach the milestone.
Morkel joins Shaun Pollock (421), Dale Steyn (419), Makhaya Ntini (390) and Allan Donald (330) in South Africa’s ‘300 club’.
The man who became unlucky number 300 was Shaun Marsh when he was caught behind by Quinton de Kock for 26.
Before that, Morkel had struck with just his third ball of the match when he had Usman Khawaja caught by Kagiso Rabada on the fine leg fence.
Number 299 was the prized scalp of Australian captain Steve Smith, who pushed at one just short of a length to be snapped up by Dean Elgar at gully.
Morkel was swamped by his team-mates when he got to 300 as Newlands rose to its feet.
The lanky quick has announced that he will be retiring from international cricket at the end of the series, meaning that the fourth Test at the Wanderers would be his final match in Proteas colours if selected.
