Despite his all-round heroics, Steyn believes Bloemfontein wicket was not up to mark

Even though he excelled with both the bat and ball in the game, veteran South African pacer Dale Steyn came out lashing at the wicket at Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein, on which the second of the ongoing ODI series between the Proteas and Zimbabwe was played. According to Steyn, it was not the type of wicket that suits international cricket.

The hosts won the toss and elected to bat in the match but were struggling at 101 for 7 in the 26th over when Steyn came out and belted 60 off 85 balls. His innings which was paced at a strike rate of over 70, featured eight boundaries and one over-boundary. South Africa were all out for 198 inside 48 overs. The Zimbabweans did worse by getting bowled out for 78 in 24 overs and losing the game by 120 runs. Spinner Imran Tahir took 6 wickets for 24, which included a hat-trick.

It also saw the Proteas take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. The 35-year-old Steyn, who was playing his first ODI in two years, hit his maiden fifty in the 50-over format and also picked up two wickets in the match to be chosen as the Man of the Match. The first game of the series at Diamond Park in Kimberley held on September 30 was also a low-scoring affair with Zimbabwe getting all out for 117 and South Africa losing half their side to overhaul the modest target.

‘Not the kind of wicket we want to play cricket on’

“I think the wicket obviously wasn’t the best if I must be honest with you, I’ve been around I’ve seen quite a lot of different pitches to play on. It’s not the kind of wickets we really want to be playing cricket on, I thought Kimberly was pretty poor and thought we would just get better coming to Bloem, I am hoping that Paarl is going to be the best one,” Zimbabwean daily The Herald quoted Steyn as saying.

The final game of the series is currently taking place at Boland Park in Paarl. Zimbabwe pacer Kyle Jarvis, however, said his team had a good opportunity to win the match but it couldn’t make use of the opportunity. He said the pitch was “almost borderline dangerous”.

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