Dale Steyn celebrates Misbah-ul-Haq’s dismissal
Dale Steyn’s second five-wicket haul in match proved last nail in Pakistan’s coffin as they slumped to a humiliating 211-run loss on the fourth day of third Test at Johannesburg on Monday.
Dale Steyn, who bagged six wickets for just eight runs in the first innings to shot out Pakistan for their lowest ever score of 49, finished with 5-32 to finish with the career-best match figures of 11-60 as tourists were bowled out for 268 in the morning session.
With the fourth successive Test win with convincing margin, South Africa have extended their unbeaten to 13 matches.
“With all the hype going into the game from a personal point of view I felt it was always important we won,” South Africa captain Graeme Smith, who became the first ever player to captain the 100 Tests.
“To win so comprehensively was even better.Day two we set a standard as a team when we bowled Pakistan out for 49, we must now feel we can achieve that level of performance more often.”
The new ball set the slide for Pakistan calamity as they lost their six wickets for just 69 runs.
Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel claimed two wickets apiece.
After resuming the day at 183-4, skipper Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq, who recovered the tourists from 4-82, defied the Proteas attack for almost half-hour before Steyn scalped latter, who could manage to add three runs to his overnight score of 53.
Pakistan had not yet recovered from the blow when Dale Steyn struck again to edge Misbah to gloveman AB de Villiers behind stumps, erasing out tourists’ final hopes. The skipper hit 11 boundaries in his 167-ball 66.
Umar Gul resisted with 23 but Dale Steyn snared him in the similar fashion to put the hosts at verge of victory before trapping Junaid Khan in front of stumps to wrap the game up.
The second Test of three-match series will be played at Cape Town from February 14-18. The Test series will be followed by two Twenty20 internationals and five ODIs.
