Mohammad
Asif’s heroics:
The
last time I witnessed some high quality pace bowling in Sri Lanka was way back
in 2006 at Kandy where a tall Pakistani bowler named Mohammad Asif rattled the
home batting line-up, not with sheer pace but with some skillful bowling. The
Lankans started their second innings with a lead of 109 runs and were sitting
pretty at 22 for 0; however, in the twinkling of an eye, the advantage was
taken away.
The
Sri Lankan batsmen were clueless against Asif’s nagging line, incisive length
and lethal cutters. Asif didn’t run in like a Wasim Akram or Waqar Younis to
send chills down a batsman’s spine with deceptive pace and late in-swingers,
but he outfoxed the batsmen with vicious cutters, like a certain Fazal Mahmodd
would do. He loitered around the off-stump, cut and seamed through the
opposition batting line-up and thus made Muttiah Muralitharan’s 51st five-wicket
haul look less bright.
Dale
Steyn unleashes hell:
Time
has moved on: Asif has been banned for spot fixing and Sri Lanka have hosted
many Test series in these eight years, where either the batsmen or the spinners
dominated, but I cannot recall a single pacer who stood out like Dale Steyn did
in the just concluded Test match, which was won by South Africa with ease.
The Galle
track was still very sedate on the third day, and the home batters were
expected to cash in. To jolt this compact Sri Lankan batting line-up on such a
placid track, something exceptional was needed. South African bowlers Morne
Morkel, Vernon Philander and Imran Tahir were failing to deliver, and it was up
to the Proteas talisman Steyn to script something magical.
On a
lifeless deck, the 31-year-old didn’t shy to bang the ball short, and it paid
off big time as Kaushal Silva fell while hooking a well-directed Steyn bouncer,
which raised a lot more than the batsman had expected. Then it was time to take
revenge over Mahela Jayawardene, who made Steyn to toil in 2006.
A
fast and full delivery, almost a yorker-length, thundered into his pads for
which Steyn appealed vociferously; umpire Billy Bowden lifted his crooked
finger. Jayawerdene went for a review, but it was not helpful enough. The world
no. 1’s joy knew no bound.
The
home team was stunned:
After
tea, Steyn unleashed a flurry of bone-chilling short-pitch stuffs to unsettle
the Lankan batsmen, and they were followed by lethal reverse-swinging
deliveries, which was too tough to handle. Lahiru Thirimanne, Dinesh Chandimal
and Dilruwan Perera were gobbled as he picked a five-for in the first innings.
In
the second innings, he was as usual in a destructive mood: a four-wicket haul
and fantastic support from his bowling partner Morne sunk Sri
Lanka .
The
exhausting heat at Galle didn’t
even take its toll on Steyn as he continued to run in with enough vigor, not
for a moment thinking to bowl defensively.
Steyn’s
pace was deceptive; he made the old ball to reverse as effectively as ever and
fired through the block hole by dishing out yorkers from hell and extracted
unbelievable bounce from a track that looked dead when opposition bowled. Boy, that
was fearsome!
If a
fast bowler exhibits his pace-bowling expertise on flat wickets, then it’s a
lifetime memory to relish. Flat tracks don’t do anything good to a pace bowler’s
confidence, but exceptionally gifted ones are never to be dented by such demons.
Adverse conditions always bring out the best from them, and Galle
brought out the very best from Steyn. Ultimately, Sri
Lanka had to suffer.
Note:
This article was published on Sportskeeda on 20/07/2014 Dale Steyn at Galle: A memory to cherish
Thank
You
Faisal
Caesar
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