5 greatest performances by Dale Steyn in the subcontinent
It has been exactly a year since South African great Dale Steyn announced his retirement from Test cricket. Steyn, one of the modern-day legends, bid goodbye to the game’s longest format after a series of injuries crippled him in the last portion of his career.
The pacer ended his 15-year Test career as South Africa’s all-time leading wicket-taker in the longest format, surpassing Shaun Pollock’s mark of 421 wickets. Overall, Dale Steyn finished with 439 wickets in 93 matches at an outstanding average of 22.95 and a strike rate of 42.30.
To put this into perspective, no player with more than 200 scalps has a better strike rate than Steyn. This is a clear indicator of how consistent he was throughout his career.
Steyn wasn’t one who needed the conditions to favour him, though. He did perform incredibly at home, but it was his performances in the subcontinent that made him stand out from his peers. On the dust bowls of India, Pakistan & Sri Lanka, where the best of seamers struggle, Steyn single-handedly won games for South Africa.
No visiting bowler (non-Asian) can match Dale Steyn's tally of 92 wickets in 22 matches in the sub-continent. His strike rate of 42.9 in Asia is only bettered by Sir Richard Hadlee.
Dale Steyn's 5 best sub-continent bowling performances
Therefore, on the one-year anniversary of his farewell from the game, we take a look at 5 of his match-winning spells in the subcontinent:
#5 2/50 & 5/56 vs Pakistan, Karachi 2007
Match Result: South Africa won by 160 runs
The 2007 tour of Pakistan was Dale Steyn’s first foray into the subcontinent, and he didn’t disappoint. In the first Test at Karachi, South Africa, riding on Jacques Kallis’ 155, racked up 450 in the first innings. In reply, the rookie Steyn struggled to make an impact on a flat Karachi wicket.
However, with the wickets of Misbah-ul-Haq and Mohammad Asif, the pacer returned with decent figures of 2-50 in the first innings. Led by the left-arm spin of Paul Harris, the Proteas restricted the Pakistanis to a sub-par score of 291, snaring a crucial 159-run first inning lead.
Another Jacques Kallis masterclass in the 2nd innings helped set Pakistan a near improbable target of 424, with little more than four sessions remaining. With the Proteas sensing a famous victory, Dale Steyn started the second innings on fire, removing both openers Mohammad Hafeez and Salman Butt with little on the board. His pace was up, and control was top notch – a deadly combination for any batsman to negotiate.
Despite the early setbacks, the Pakistanis led by Younis Khan attacked the Protean bowlers, and needed 278 runs on the final day with 7 wickets in hand.
As more would be evident in the future, Steyn would be the game-changer. He scalped the prized wicket of Younis next morning, and finished off the tail (5/56) to register one of many historic victories in the subcontinent.
Jacques Kallis deservedly took home the Man of the Match for his twin centuries, but it was Dale Steyn who proved to be the difference between a win and a potential draw.
The South Africans won the series 1-0 and that remains their only series victory against Pakistan away from home.