Simon Harmer crossed a significant milestone during the second Test against Pakistan on Thursday (October 23).
Heading into day four in Rawalpindi, Harmer's wicket tally in first-class cricket stood at 997, after taking two wickets in the first innings, and three in the second to reduce Pakistan to 94-4 at stumps on day three.
2nd Test, Pakistan vs South Africa
vs
- Ball by ball Over
Simon Harmer takes 1,000th first-class wicket in Rawalpindi
Harmer struck in the very first over of the day, trapping Babar Azam lbw soon after the latter had reached a half-century. Four overs later, he induced an inside edge from Mohammad Rizwan, getting the wicketkeeper caught at short leg.
Just two overs after that, Harmer got one to grip and turn away from Noman Ali, catching a faint edge on the way through to wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne; taking him to the mark of 1,000 first-class wickets.
Harmer finished with 6-50 as Pakistan folded for 138, setting South Africa 68 to win and level the two-match series. He is the 217th player in the history of the game to reach this milestone, and the fourth Test-capped South African to do so. The three before him were “Buck” Llewellyn (1,013 wickets), Mike Procter (1,417) and Allan Donald (1,216).
With the wicket of Babar, Harmer also reached the mark of 50 Test wickets, in his 12th match.
Simon Harmer: Breakdown of 1,000 first-class wickets
| Team | Matches | Wickets | Average |
| Eastern Province | 15 | 59 | 26.3 |
| Essex | 116 | 513 | 23.1 |
| Northerns | 10 | 64 | 19.0 |
| South Africa | 12 | 52 | 26.0 |
| South Africa A | 9 | 28 | 42.8 |
| South African Invitation XI | 1 | 6 | 33.3 |
| Warriors | 71 | 278 | 32.3 |
| Total | 234 | 1,000 | 26.3 |
Most wickets in first-class cricket, full list
| Name | Wickets | Average |
| Wilfred Rhodes | 4,204 | 16.72 |
| Tich Freeman | 3,776 | 18.42 |
| Charlie Parker | 3,278 | 19.46 |
| Jack Hearne | 3,061 | 17.75 |
| Tom Goddard | 2,979 | 19.84 |
| Alex Kennedy | 2,874 | 21.23 |
| Derek Shackleton | 2,857 | 18.65 |
| Tony Lock | 2,844 | 19.23 |
| Fred Titmus | 2,830 | 22.37 |
| WG Grace | 2,809 | 18.14 |
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