Steyn sparks SA resurrection

Times Media

TELFORD VICE, Galle

If the fiery phoenix needs to adopt a human form, Dale Steyn is its man. Not for the first time, the flames of his and SA’s resurrection were born in the ashes of the opposition’s ascendency on the third day of the first test against Sri Lanka in Galle yesterday.

Steyn claimed 3/8 in a superb spell after tea, giving him figures of 5/50 at stumps - which came with Sri Lanka on 283/9, or still 172 runs away from SA’s first innings of 455/9 declared.

With that, Steyn owned the best performance by a foreign bowler at Galle, which is famous for its slow, dry surfaces where the home side play the opening test in every series because they believe they have the best chance of winning here.

Steyn, then, has done his bit. But SA might have been in an even better position: in the 21 overs from the end of Steyn’s spell until SA took the new ball, they could claim only one wicket while conceding 77 runs.

And that new ball was available after just four of those overs. The complication for Hashim Amla was that the old ball buzzed with reverse swing.

Steyn had his post-tea party in the space of 26 deliveries. He started with a wide, swinging ball that Lahiru Thirimanne flapped at and edged to Quinton de Kock, continued with an effort that hunted Dinesh Chandimal’s head and was blipped to Alviro Petersen at short midwicket, and finished with a pearler that swung in and nailed Dilruwan Perera’s stumps.

As Upul Tharanga said, “That’s where the match changed. Before tea, we were batting well.”

When Imran Tahir bowled Angelo Mathews for a pugnaciously scored 89 five overs before the close, Sri Lanka’s hopes of forging significantly closer to first-innings parity were ended.

How much Steyn’s raid was worth to SA was emphasised when Angelo Mathews hammered Morne Morkel for 20 runs in one over. But Steyn was reluctant to take all of the credit for his success.

“We built up a lot of pressure before tea,” he said. “There was a lot of banter out there that the Sri Lankans weren’t taking the game anywhere. We said in the morning that if we built up enough pressure, the game would reward us.”

Steyn and SA earned the first of those rewards in the day’s fifth over, when Kaushal Silva sent a bouncer spiralling to fine leg. Vernon Philander kept his wits about him and his eye on the swirling ball to take a superb low catch.

Philander was unlucky not to grab his own reward nine balls later, when a perfectly pitched delivery rattled Tharanga’s off-bail but did not dislodge it.

Another sign that things could turn Sri Lanka’s way came with the fifth ball Kumar Sangakkara faced. It was bowled by Steyn and it was dispatched through the covers with sumptuous elegance.

But Sangakkara and Sri Lanka’s other major threat, Mahela Jayawardene, were dismissed four overs apart having scored just 27 runs between them.

Sangakkara’s roundhouse pull to a wide delivery from Morkel sent the ball crashing into his stumps - and sparked a full-blooded tantrum from the Sri Lankan, who let loose with blood oaths and slammed his bat into the turf. Jayawardene closed the face of his bat to Steyn and was consequently trapped in front.

Tharanga’s wicket, stumped off JP Duminy for a patient 83 on the stroke of lunch, was SA’s only other success before tea.

And then came Steyn.