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An attack well-suited to the sub-continent

Nandita Sridhar

Steyn, Ntini and Morkel have had the results so far to prove it

— PHOTO: AP

BENDING HIS BACK: Dale Steyn, the quickest of the South African bowlers, has picked the right time to fulfil his team’s requirements.

Kanpur: It’s the most primal of thrills, watching a super-quick bowler cutting a batsman to size, leaving him smarting, and his ego hurt. But the sight of a quick bowler out-thinking a batsman is heartening. The bowling at the Sardar Patel Stadium on the first day of the Ahmedabad Test was one such effort. Three fast bowlers clinically executed a plan built on what transpired in the first Test, and the batting patterns of the Indian line-up. The quickest of them all, Dale Steyn, had picked the right time to fulfil his team’s requirements.

In this series so far, Steyn has been quick and a lot more. He out-paces most contemporary bowlers, but what has helped in his evolution over the last few months, has been refinement. The furious delivery that leaves the batsman trembling is nearly anachronistic. The security of helmets and multi-layered protective gears makes it a shallow threat. There is an appeal to it, no doubt, but it is restricted to the moment.

Modest beginning

Steyn started off — like most express bowlers do — as too raw. His progress was held back by a singular search for pace. It was when he convincingly mastered swing and the subtle use of the slower ball that he met with better success. In the second Test, the intention wasn’t to induce fear, but to push batsmen, ball after ball, into seeking desperate release. Those who couldn’t be cornered so were made to deal with deliveries that merited instant submission.

Throughout Virender Sehwag’s triple century in Chennai, one saw Steyn in a fruitless search for swing. The length was too full, and the pace just right for Sehwag.

India’s tail-enders in the first Test were dispatched, scornfully almost, with a series of deliveries that swung when least expected, but the performance in that Test did not justify his skills.

The lessons were learnt in time by Steyn. Short-balls were promised, but one sensed they weren’t all. Backed up commendably by Makhaya Ntini and Morne Morkel, the Indians were trapped. Batsmen like M.S. Dhoni were relentlessly pegged back, till getting forward was needlessly sought to feign authority.

Setting up batsmen

Steyn steamed in on day one, the grass proving encouraging. Batsmen were pushed back till the sight of length tempted them, or made to settle into a shot that was soon dried up. The follow-up deliveries were the ones that worked. Most of the Indian wickets were set up a few balls before the actual dismissal.

Sehwag, being forewarned by South Africa and challenged that he couldn’t pull, was comfortable using the same. But his dismissals, more specifically in the second innings, came through fuller deliveries.

The other batsman who could have made the difference in Ahmedabad, Rahul Dravid, wasn’t so much set up as he was taken aback by the sudden movement.

“Sehwag tends to play skywards towards the slips or leave his bat hanging out towards the slips so there’s always the possibility of an inside-edge. His wicket was pretty decent as was that of Dravid. They are two good batsmen and that’s two wickets you definitely want to be getting before the game,” said Steyn.

Ntini delivers

Ntini, thin on success in the sub-continent, has been near lethal in the movement he’s managed. He bowls from wide of the stumps, enabling the ball to move in sharply.

Morkel, whose height played its hand in bounce, bowled a dream spell to Dravid in the second innings.

The former captain was forced into playing at a ball that came in too quick, at an uncomfortable height. The decision was made through a series of deliveries before that.

Steyn has managed 75 wickets in 11 Tests since October last year — an exceptional achievement, considering they’ve included Tests in Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. His performances have pushed him to No.1 in the rankings, alongside Muttiah Muralitharan.

South African captain Graeme Smith was expectedly pleased with the bowling efforts.

“As a captain this is the first time I feel I have a bowling attack that can be successful in the sub-continent.”

The South African attack, always threatening, has further gained menace with Ntini’s restored movement and Morkel’s consistency. They’ve had the results so far, to prove it.

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