Steyn: I always bowl at the stumps
South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn claimed five Sri Lankan wickets on day three of the first Test in Galle, and though it was a dead deck, Steyn said bowling at the stumps was the key to his success.
South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn claimed five Sri Lankan wickets on day three of the first Test in Galle, and though it was a dead deck, Steyn said bowling at the stumps was the key to his success.
This was Steyn's 23rd Test five-fer, as he removed both Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, as well as three others. Sri Lanka ended the day on 283 for nine thanks in large part to Steyn.
He explained that his shorter stature helped him to keep the ball in the right areas, and that keeping a right line upped his chances dramatically when bowling on a wicket that didn't help him all that much.
Steyn said after the day's play: "I'm lucky with the way that I bowl. I'm short and I am skiddy so the bouncer doesn't quite get up and the lbw always comes into play.
"I'm always attacking the stumps even if I don't always hit the stumps like today. There's still always a chance to find the edge of a bat. With every ball, there's always a chance to get wickets."
The rest of the Proteas attack did well too, with JP Duminy getting Upul Tharanga's wicket, and Imran Tahir doing the job in the evening session to remove Angelo Mathews, with both batsmen out in the 80s.
Steyn added: "We built up a little pressure before tea. There was banter about how the Sri Lankans were not really going anywhere. They had closed shop and I think that became frustrating to them.
"JP bowled really well and the rest of our bowlers built up enough pressure to be able to get the wickets that we took."
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