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The fast Australian team achieved a historic feat: Mitchell Starc took 450 wickets in Test matches against South Africa. With this, he became the first left-arm bowler in the world to reach this milestone.

This significant milestone was reached on the third day of the match, which is being played at the Stuut-George Park in Gqeberha against South Africa. Starc secured his 450th wicket by dismissing Wayne Mulder, who was caught by Matt Renshaw.

It is particularly noteworthy that Starc broke the record of the great Australian bowler Glenn McGrath for the number of balls bowled. McGrath took his 450 wickets by bowling 23,474 deliveries, whereas Starc achieved this fantastic figure in only 20,577 deliveries.

Although McGrath reached this result in 100 matches, Starc achieved this benchmark in his 109th Test match. Overall, the record for the fastest accumulation of 450 Test wickets belongs to Mutiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka, who achieved it in his 80th match.

Furthermore, after Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, and Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc became the fourth bowler in Australian history to take 450 or more Test wickets. His outstanding performance proved crucial for the Kangaroos team.

In the list of left-arm bowlers, Starc holds leading positions:

• Mitchell Starc: 450* wickets (109 matches)
• Rangana Herath: 433 wickets (93 matches)
• Wasim Akram: 414 wickets (104 matches)
• Daniel Vitori: 362 wickets (113 matches)
• Ravindra Jadeja: 556 wickets (91 matches)

The South African off-spinner, Simon Harmer, achieved a remarkable feat in the second match of the series against Australia, entering history books. Harmer scored an impressive 82 runs, thereby breaking Dale Steyn's 18-year record.

He reached this result at a time when the South African team was in a difficult situation and desperately needed a big partnership. On Tuesday, the third day of the match played at Centurion Park in Gqeberha, Harmer faced 91 deliveries, scoring 10 fours and one six.

This figure is the highest for a South African batsman batting at number 9 or lower against Australia in Test matches. The previous record was 76 runs, set by Dale Steyn during a match in Melbourne in 2008.

In the first innings, South Africa lost six wickets for 110 runs. Following this, captain Temba Bavuma and Marco Jansen stabilized the game, adding 132 runs for the seventh wicket. Jansen departed after scoring 85 runs, after which Harmer supported Bavuma. Both players formed a crucial partnership on the eighth wicket, accumulating 183 runs.

This is the second-largest partnership on the eighth wicket or lower in South African history. The record is currently held by Marco Boucher and Pete Symcox, who scored 195 runs against Pakistan in 1998.

For his part, captain Temba Bavuma demonstrated exceptional patience and technique under pressure, scoring 179 runs off 334 balls, including 18 fours and one six. When the team score was only 12 runs with two wickets down on the first day, Bavuma took responsibility and prevented the innings from collapsing.

Simon Harmer had the opportunity to earn his first hundred in Test matches, but Marnus Labuschagne dismissed him. After South Africa fell victim to Mitchell Starc, they declared the innings closed at 425/9. By the end of the third day, Australia had scored three runs for the loss of one wicket. Kagiso Rabada dismissed Nick Maddinson, preventing him from scoring any runs.