Bulawayo, June 29 : South Africa stand-in captain Keshav Maharaj on Sunday created history by becoming the first Proteas spinner to clinch 200 Test wickets. He achieved the feat in the ongoing first Test against Zimbabwe at Queens Sports Club.

On second of the first Test, Maharaj reached the milestone by dismissing his counterpart Craig Ervine. He is now the ninth South African bowler overall to reach 200 Test wickets. He achieved the feat in his 59th Test match. Over the course of his career, he has taken five-wicket hauls in an innings on 11 occasions and has claimed four wickets in an innings six times.

South Africa's all-time leading Test wicket-taker is Dale Steyn, who claimed 439 wickets in 93 matches at an impressive average of 22.95. He is followed by Shaun Pollock with 421 wickets and Makhaya Ntini with 390.

With regular skipper Temba Bavuma sidelined by a hamstring strain, the 35-year-old Maharaj has taken over the captaincy of the South African national cricket team for the first time. South Africa won the toss and chose to bat first in the match that got underway in Bulawayo on Saturday.

South Africa declared their first innings at 418 runs, powered by a brilliant century from 19-year-old Luan Pretorius, who played a memorable knock of 153 runs off 160 balls. His innings featured 11 fours and 4 sixes. With this feat, Pretorius became the youngest South African to score a Test century, reaching the milestone at just 19 years and 93 days old.

Lower down the order, Corbin Bosch also made a significant impact with the bat, scoring a century off 124 deliveries. On his Test debut, Dewald Brevis impressed with his aggressive approach, smashing 51 runs off just 41 balls.

/IANS