International career[edit]
Dale Steyn in the field at the
SCG in January 2009
Home Tests against England 2004/05[edit]
Steyn made his debut for
South Africa on 17 December 2004 in the first Test of
England's tour. His first victim in Test cricket was
Marcus Trescothick whom he
bowled with a fast in-swinging delivery.
[17] However, his overall performance was underwhelming, he took eight wickets at an average of 52.00
[18] and he was dropped after bowling poorly in England's second innings of the fourth Test in January 2005, bowling eight
no balls in nine overs which went for 47 runs.
[19]England won the match by 77 runs. dale is known to be a role model since 2006
One Day Internationals 2005/06[edit]
Later that year, Steyn was picked in the squad for the African XI in the Afro-Asia Cup of 2005/06, and he made his
One Day International debut on 17 August 2005. The African XI won the match, with Steyn bowling last batsman
Ashish Nehra to seal victory by two runs.
[20] Steyn made his One Day International debut for South Africa on 20 January 2006 in a match against
Australia at
Melbourne, a match which was part of the
2005-06 VB Series. Steyn did not bowl particularly well
[21] and after another below par performance against
Sri Lanka[22] he dropped out of consideration for the South African ODI team.
Home Tests against New Zealand 2005/2006[edit]
Following a strong season playing domestic cricket for the
Titans, Steyn was recalled to the Test side to play
New Zealand in April 2006. He responded to his opportunity with his first five-wicket haul in the first Test at
Centurion, ripping through the New Zealand batting lineup along with
Makhaya Ntini as New Zealand crumbled to 120 all out, chasing 248 to win.
[23] He finished the three Test series with 16 wickets at 26.00
[24] and made a fine impression throughout.
Away Tests against Sri Lanka 2006[edit]
Steyn was included in the Test team to play
Sri Lanka away in a two match series in July and August 2006. In his first overseas Test, at the
Sinhalese Sports Club Ground,
Colombo, he took 3 for 129 as Sri Lanka piled up 756–5, with
Kumar Sangakkara and
Mahela Jayawardene putting together the highest Test match partnership ever (624 runs). South Africa slumped to defeat by an innings and 153 runs.
[25] In the second Test, at the
Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium,
Colombo, Steyn took his second five-wicket haul in Tests during Sri Lanka's first innings, but went wicketless in their seconds innings as Sri Lanka sealed a 2–0 series victory by a single wicket.
[26] Steyn finished the series with eight wickets at an average of 36.50.
[24]
Home Tests against India 2006/07[edit]
Steyn his Test place for the three match home series against
India. He picked up an injury whilst bowling early in India's first innings in the first Test at
Johannesburg which prevented him from taking much further part in the game and also ruled him out of the second Test. He returned to play in the deciding third Test at
Cape Town and bowled well, taking six wickets for 88 runs in the match as South Africa clinched the match and the series.
[27] He finished the series with six wickets at an average of 19.00.
[28]
Home Tests against Pakistan 2006/07[edit]
Despite his strong performance on his return to the team in the third Test against India, Steyn missed out on a place in the first two Tests against
Pakistan, with the selectors opting to play a four man attack featuring full-time spinner
Paul Harris. He returned in the third Test, at
Cape Town, when the selectors decided to rest
André Nel and
Shaun Pollock in preparation for the imminent
2007 Cricket World Cup. He took four wickets in the match for 87 runs as South Africa won the match by 5 wickets and took the series 2–1.
[29] As this was his only match, his average for the series was 21.75.
[28]
One Day Internationals 2007[edit]
Steyn was recalled to the South African ODI squad in June 2007 and played in three matches between June and August, against
Ireland,
India and
Zimbabwe. He had mixed success in these three matches, taking wickets but proving expensive.
[30]
Away Tests against Pakistan 2007/2008[edit]
Steyn was picked for the Test squad to tour
Pakistan in October, and played in both Tests. In the first Test at
Karachi, during Pakistan's second innings, he picked up his third Test five-wicket haul as Pakistan were bowled out for 263 chasing 424 to win.
[31] He had an unremarkable second Test, with the match petering out to a draw, handing South Africa the series 1–0, and finished the series with nine wickets at 24.66.
[32]
Home Tests, ODIs and T20 against New Zealand 2007/2008[edit]
Steyn was by now an established member of the Test team, and he produced his finest series performance to date in the two Test matches against
New Zealand in November. In the first Test at
Johannesburg he collected his fourth and fifth five-wicket hauls (5/35 and 5/59) and his first ten-wicket match as New Zealand were thrashed by 358 runs, South Africa's biggest victory margin in terms of runs to date. Steyn was also awarded his first Test Man-of-the-Match award.
[33] This devastating form continued into the second Test at
Centurion where he picked up 4/42 in the first innings and his sixth five-wicket haul (6/49) to help South Africa to victory by an innings and 59 runs. His second ten-wicket match earned him his second Man-of-the-Match award in a row
[34] and his series performance of 20 wickets at an average of 9.20
[35] won him his first Man-of-the-Series award. On the back of his performance, he broke into the top five of the
ICC rankings for Test bowlers for the first time in his career.
[36]
He made his
Twenty20 International debut on 23 November 2007 in the one-off game against New Zealand, taking the wicket of
Scott Styris and only giving up 17 runs from his four overs.
[37] He also featured in the third One Day International at
Cape Town, where he had partial success, taking the wickets of the New Zealand openers,
Brendon McCullum and
Lou Vincent, but going for 50 runs from nine overs.
[38]
Home Tests, ODIs and T20 against West Indies 2007/2008[edit]
Steyn's next international appearance was in the first Twenty20 International against the
West Indies. He took the exceptional figures of 4/9 in three overs, with all four wickets being picture perfect yorkers, but was unable to stop the West Indies chasing down the target of 59 runs in a match reduced to 13 overs by rain.
[39]
Steyn's form continued into the Test series. He had a fairly indifferent match in the first Test at
Port Elizabeth, taking 5/188 in the match as the West Indies scored their first away victory in Test matches for two and a half years, although he did hit his highest Test match score to date, 33 not out, in South Africa's second innings.
[40] He picked up figures of 4/60 and 4/44 in the second Test at
Cape Town as South Africa leveled the series
[41] and once again proved his worth in the deciding third Test at
Durban by taking 1/18 and 6/72, his seventh five-wicket haul, as the West Indies were thrashed by an innings and 100 runs.
[42] His 20 wickets at 19.10.
[35] earned him his second consecutive Man-of-the-Series award.
He played in the first three matches of the One Day International series, but could not match his Test success and was briefly dropped after failing to take a wicket and going for 62 runs in his ten overs during the third match at
Port Elizabeth[43]He was recalled for the fifth match at
Johannesburg but struggled again, taking one wicket but going for 78 runs from ten overs.
[44]
Away Tests and ODIs against Bangladesh 2007/08[edit]
In the first Test of the two match series against
Bangladesh, at
Dhaka, Steyn helped South Africa avoid an embarrassing defeat. Bangladesh were bowled out for 192 in their first innings, with Steyn claiming 3/27, but then South Africa collapsed to 170 all out, handing the hosts a shock 22 run lead. However Steyn (4/48) then combined with
Jacques Kallis (5/30) to restrict Bangladesh to 182 all out and South Africa were able to complete a five wicket victory on the fourth day of the match.
[45] South Africa won the second Test at
Chittagong comprehensively (by an innings and 205 runs) and Steyn returned figures of 4/66 and 3/35
[46] giving him 14 wickets in the series at an average of 12.57
[35] which won him his third consecutive Man-of-the-Series award. When Steyn dismissed
Junaid Siddique in Bangladesh's first innings (his 20th match), he claimed the record for the fastest South African to reach 100 wickets in Tests, beating
Hugh Tayfield's record of 21 matches. He holds the record amongst all players who are currently playing Test cricket.
[4]
Steyn featured in the final One Day International of the three match series, going wicketless but only giving away 19 runs in 8 overs.
[47]
Away Tests against India 2007/08[edit]
Coming into the three Test series against
India predictions about how Steyn would fare were mixed, with some commentators identifying him a crucial part of a South African team which could pose a serious challenge to India,
[48] whilst others predicted he might struggle playing against a strong batting lineup on lifeless subcontinent pitches.
[49]
The first Test at
Chennai turned out to be a very high scoring affair, with South Africa batting first and making 540, then India responding strongly, led by
Virender Sehwag who scored 319 from 304 balls, to reach 468/1 by the end of the third day. On the fourth day Steyn helped to restrict India's lead to 87 runs by dismissing
MS Dhoni with a
bouncer then blasting through the lower order, taking three wickets in two overs for the cost of two runs, all
bowled with
reverse swingingdeliveries. He finished the innings, and the match which petered out into a tame draw, with four wickets for 103 runs.
[50] On the morning of the second Test at
Ahmedabad, South Africa demolished the much vaunted Indian batting line within twenty overs, for the meagre total of 76 runs. Steyn was the pick of the bowlers taking five wickets for 23 runs, dismissing Sehwag and
Rahul Dravid then mopping up the last three batsmen for the cost of 11 runs. In the second innings he added a further three wickets to his match tally, finishing the game with eight wickets for 114 runs, as South Africa completed a crushing victory by an innings and 90 runs.
[51] The final Test at
Kanpur saw Steyn pick up three first innings wickets which took him to 15 wickets in the series at an average of 20.20. As a result of this, the cumulation of an outstanding 2007/08 season in which he took 75 wickets in 11 matches, Steyn moved up to joint first place (alongside
Muttiah Muralitharan) in the ICC Test match bowling rankings.
[52]
Away Tests against Australia 2008/2009[edit]
Steyn fields a ball at practice, Adelaide Oval, January 2009
In the 2nd Test match in a 3 match series, Steyn was involved in a record 9th wicket partnership of 180 with
J.P. Duminy. Steyn recorded a score of 76 (191 deliveries) in an innings that helped South Africa recover from 6–141 to post a score of 459. Steyn also starred in the first innings with figures of 5–87 (29.0 overs).
[53] In the second innings Steyn returned figures of 5–67 (20.2 overs) and helped South Africa to restrict the Australians to 247 giving the hosts a lead of 183. Steyn now has match figures of 10–154.
[54] This is the third time that he has taken 10 wickets in a match in his test career. South Africa duly completed the chase with nine wickets in hand, giving them a 2–0 series lead and their first ever Test series win in Australia. It was also Australia's first home series defeat in 16 years. Steyn was named man of the match for this performance. Steyn made a rearguard effort in attempting to prevent an Australian victory in the 3rd Test in Sydney frustrating the hosts with 28 runs in 65 balls in a 50 run partnership from 105 balls with Makhaya Ntini in order to try to secure the draw. However, when he was out with 50 balls to go, injured captain
Graeme Smith came in with a broken hand in an attempt to hold out. Smith was eventually bowled out by Mitchell Johnson with ten balls to go.
Away Tests Against West Indies 2010[edit]
In the first test against the Windies in the 2010 series, South Africa convincingly beat them, with Steyn take his 200th wicket, Sulimenn Benn, clean bowled (off stump). This was also the wicket that brought Steyn his 14th five – for, a superb achievement considering Steyn's modest record of only 38 tests.
ICC World Cup 2011[edit]
Dale Steyn got career best ODI figures of 5 wickets for 50 runs against India in Nagpur during the Cricket World Cup 2011. India had a good start to their batting innings but could not maintain their momentum, in the process losing their final 9 wickets for just 29 runs. Steyn played a vital role in the derailment of a strong Indian batting line-up.
[55]
IPL Auction 2011[edit]
Dale Steyn was one of the players to go for over a million dollars in the auction for the fourth edition of the
Indian Premier League. He was bought by the
Deccan Chargers for $1.2 million.
He was awarded the man of the match against Mumbai Indians though Deccan Chargers lost the match.
Playing style[edit]
Steyn is an aggressive out-and-out
fast bowler capable of bowling at speeds in excess of 150 km/h. He is capable of generating considerable
swing and is usually chosen to bowl with the new ball to maximize these attributes. He was a generally aggressive bowler and had capability to even get the ball to do a lot more than it should do. He bowls at at mid 140 -150 but likes to bowl at mid 130 at general conditions
[56] He has also demonstrated the ability to
reverse swing the older ball in a Test match against India in Nagpur in 2010,
[57] which South Africa won by an innings and six runs. Steyn is an extremely competitive cricketer and often celebrates vigorously after taking a wicket. He has stated that he "love(s) the buzz from bowling fast" and that he "want(s) to be the quickest in the world".
[58]
Steyn is usually considered a
tail-ender when batting and usually bats at number nine. However, he is a capable hitter of the ball and can also occupy the crease if required.
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