Dale Steyn to miss the 1st ODI against Pakistan

South Africa’s ace fast bowler, Dale Steyn, is not going to take part in the first One Day International (ODI) of the five-match series against Pakistan at Bloemfontein but will join the squad before the second encounter.

The opening match of the battle is going to be played tomorrow, with the visitors looking to prove a point after their disastrous showing in the recently-concluded Test series.

Steyn played a huge in South Africa’s Test series success against Pakistan, picking up 20 wickets in merely three fixtures at a stunning bowling average of 12.90 runs per scalp. The right-arm pacer was by far the highest wicket-taker in the competition and turned out to be a real nightmare for the Pakistani batsmen.

The 29-year-old cricket did not take part in the T20 series, where Pakistan dominated the proceedings and clinched the only match played by a huge margin of 95 runs.

Gary Kirsten, the coach of the South African cricket team, has revealed that Steyn has been rested for the first ODI and will join the team for the last four matches. The former left-handed opener was all praise for the hard work Steyn has put in the longer format of the game recently.

“Dale bowled close to 180 overs during the Tests against New Zealand and Pakistan and was always going to be rested for the first ODI as part of our rotation policy with the bowlers, whether he was with us or not,” said Kirsten.

Unfortunately for the Proteas, their other strike bowler, Morne Morkel is also not available for the initial part of the ODI series but Kirsten said that the team management is not too unhappy about the situation as it allows them to try some new players.

The former cricketer added, “At this stage we are waiting on the fitness of Morne Morkel. If he fails to recover in time, we need to look at it positively because it is an opportunity for another player to be tested at this level.”

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Posted by Yasir Hashmi on Mar 9 2013. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.