It had been a long time coming, but the barrier has finally been breached: Dale Steyn became South Africa’s all-time highest wicket-taker in Test cricket on the opening day of the first Test against Pakistan at Centurion on Wednesday, 26 December.
The fiery fast bowler, who has battled an endless spate of injuries in recent years, surpassed former captain Shaun Pollock’s long-standing mark of 421 Test scalps with the wicket of Fakhar Zaman inside the opening hour of the Boxing Day Test to kick-start Pakistan’s three-match series in South Africa.
Steyn had reached the landmark of 400 Test wickets over three years ago, in July 2015, but recurring fitness concerns had kept the Proteas mainstay off the field for large parts of the last couple of years. The ongoing Centurion Test is only the 35-year-old’s seventh appearance since the start of 2016.
Former teammate AB de Villiers was among the first to congratulate Steyn on his momentous achievement.
Steyn reached the milestone in what is his 89th Test, significantly faster than Pollock, whose 421 wickets came in 108 Tests.
Pollock himself was a proud observer from the commentary box, and had warm words of congratulations for his successor as South Africa’s most successful Test bowler.
Tributes poured in across Twitter for the ‘Phalaborwa Express’, who has expressed his desire to continue playing for South Africa till the 2019 World Cup.
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