Dale Steyn: A South African cricketer like no other

Steyn has had an illustrious career, having played an important part in numerous Proteas victories during the course of his career and finishes as South Africa's leading wicket-taker in Tests, having picked 439 scalps in 93 matches.

Published : Aug 31, 2021 19:30 IST

 

In Test cricket history, 35 fast bowlers have claimed over 300 wickets. Steyn's strike-rate of 42.03 is the best among all of them.

Steyn played 22 Tests in Asia and took the most number of wickets for any fast bowler, claiming 92 scalps at an average of 24.11.

Steyn remains the only fast bowler in Test history to have taken a five-wicket haul against all Test-playing nations.

Steyn's best bowling figures in Tests came against India in Nagpur in 2010, when he took 7-51. It is the second best figures for a South African fast bowler in India since re-admission in 1991, behind Lance Klusener's 8-64 in 1996.

One of Steyn's best spells in ODIs came against India in the 2011 World Cup match at Nagpur, when he took 5-50 in 9.4 overs. It was the best bowling performance by a Proteas bowler in that edition of the quadrennial event.

Steyn played 69 Tests under Graeme Smith and took 347 wickets, which is the most any bowler has taken playing under any captain in Test history.

Steyn took 697 wickets in 263 matches for South Africa across all formats of the game - second only to Shaun Pollock (823). He also ends with the South African record for most Test wickets (439).

Steyn was never quite the beast in the T20 format, but one of his most memorable performances for South Africa in the shortest format came in 2011, when he took 4-17 in four overs and successfully defended six runs in the final over to help his side win by two runs.

Steyn represented a number of franchises in the IPL, playing 95 matches and claiming 97 wickets at an economy-rate of 6.91. His best bowling performance came while playing for the now-defunct Deccan Chargers, when he claimed 3-8 against the Mumbai Indians in 2012.

Not always did South Africa need Steyn to contribute with the bat, but in December 2008, it did and Steyn responded with his best Test score, making a career-best 76 and putting on 180 runs for the tenth wicket with JP Duminy, which eventually helped his side win the match by nine wickets.

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In Test cricket history, 35 fast bowlers have claimed over 300 wickets. Steyn's strike-rate of 42.03 is the best among all of them.
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