Having kickstarted the proceedings in the first ODI at Perth on Sunday, November 4 with a bang, Dale Steyn feels he can only get better in the series and is eyeing nothing short of excellence, which greats like him do.
Steyn clocked back the years with his fearsome first spell that exhibited pace, bounce, lateral movement and he picked up 2/18 from his 7 overs to actually inflict the collapse on the home side, who got bowled out for just 152 in 38.1 overs before succumbing to defeat with the Faf du Plessis led South Africa polishing it off in just 29.2 overs and 6 wickets in the bank.
But, the inarguably the greatest is not one to settle for anything less than continuous magnificence.
“It was good to finish a game without breaking down in Australia, It was a good wicket to bowl on, and the captain decided we were going to bowl first if we won the toss,” said Steyn, having been awarded man of the match honours on the day, at the post-match presentation ceremony.
"I knew if we bowled well we could get any team out. I would take any wicket in ODI cricket. When left-handers are batting the ball kind of slips out, but in ODIs, I'll take any wicket," and further said, "I played county cricket, but international cricket is a whole lot different. We know how Finch and Lynn are bullies in county cricket."
"So I've only just started out again in international cricket, but I'm getting there, slowly but surely. Happy with my performance nonetheless, and hopefully there's a lot more to come from us," he added.
Delighted with the overall performance of his team, Faf du Plessis felt, “We were exceptional with the ball and in the field and did everything right. There was some counter-punching at the end, but a good day at the office overall.” before showering praise on Steyn, “Great to have Steyn back. All the bowlers today were great. It's great as a captain to have such X-factor in the bowling attack and they made sure to take advantage of the conditions."
“The openers batted very maturely and made sure they got the job done. We got ourselves into a good position. We could have been a little more clinical, but we'll take this anyway,” he concluded.
(Inputs from AFP)
