Test Match Against India: Dale Steyn’s Three Finest Spells: Today is the 40th birthday of Dale Styne. On June 27, 1983, the former South African fast bowler was conceived. Many analysts and fans agree that he ranks among the best fast bowlers of all time.
Steyn’s pace, accuracy, and swing during his prime years caused the opposition batsmen to become terrified. In red-ball cricket, it was more challenging for the batters to score runs against him.
As an Indian opponent in a test match, Steyn had a stellar record. The right-handed pacer took 65 wickets in just 14 games versus India in the longest version of the game, shedding some insight into his statistics. Against the Indian team, he amassed five-wicket hauls and one 10-wicket match haul.
Today, on Dale Steyn’s 40th birthday, we’ll take a look back at his three Test cricket bowling efforts against Team India.
1. 2010’s 6/50, against India in South Africa, was Steyn’s greatest stint
The fact that Steyn’s finest performance against India on South African soil ended in defeat may surprise some fans. Steyn bowled a 6/50 spell in the 2010 Boxing Day Test at Kingsmead.
In that match, he claimed the wickets of Virendra Sehwag, Murali Vijay, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, MS Dhoni, and Harbhajan Singh to bowl India out for 205 runs. The Proteas batters were unable to stop the Indian bowlers, and India went on to win by 87 runs
2. India is destroyed by Dale Steyn on Indian soil on May 23, 2008
South Africa traveled to Ahmedabad in 2008 to play the second test in their series against India. With Steyn delivering a fantastic spell of 5/23 in 8.2 overs, the Proteas bowled India out for just 76 runs in the opening innings.
Steyn sent Harbhajan Singh, RP Singh, and Sreesanth back to the dressing room after rattling the stumps of Virendra Sehwag and Rahul Dravid. In that game, his five-wicket haul enabled South Africa to win by an innings.
3 The 7/51 vs. India Dale Steyn performance in Nagpur, 2010
The Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagur is renowned for having a pitch that is friendly to beginners. However, in 2010 at the VCA Stadium, Dale Steyn’s speed decimated the Indian batting order.
The Proteas batted first and finished their innings with a massive 558/6 score. With an undefeated 253-run knock, Hashim Amla stole the show.
When India responded, they were at one point 192/3 with Virendra Sehwag still at bat and on 109. Wayne Parnell bowled Sehwag, and soon after, Steyn’s pace decimated the Indian lineup.
In his opening spell, Steyn dismissed Sachin Tendulkar and Murali Vijay. Subsequently, he quickly followed up by taking the wickets of Subramaniam Badrinath, Wriddhiman Saha, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, and Amit Mishra.
India lost ground because of his session, going from 192/3 to 233 all out. Steyn finished with figures of 7/51. In the second innings, he took three more wickets as South Africa defeated India by an innings’ worth of runs.