Former South African speedster, Dale Steyn has finally made his debut for Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League (BBL) on Friday against Adelaide Strikers at the Carrara Oval in Queensland.
However, he didn’t have the best of starts though where he replaced the highest wicket-taker, Haris Rauf of Pakistan in the game.
Steyn was immediately put under pressure by the opener Jake Weatherald. After having started his BBL campaign with a dot ball, Steyn has then torn apart for back-to-back maximums and then consecutive boundaries.
Steyn came into the Big Bash League on the back of some great performances in the Mzansi Super League. Playing for Cape Town Blitz, he finished as the third-highest wicket-taker in the league with a brilliant 15 wickets in eight games.
He has missed Melbourne Stars’ first two games due to a side strain which he was suffered before coming to Australia for the much-awaited league. His inclusion in the team meant that Melbourne Stars had to make a choice between the league’s joint-highest wicket-taker this season.
In the two matches, Rauf picked up seven wickets, including a five-wicket haul against the Hobart Hurricanes where he gave away just 5.87 runs per over.
Meanwhile, Australian pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile has returned to the Melbourne Stars who had earlier missed the game due to an ankle injury.
Dale Steyn’s sweet revenge
After being hit for 20 runs in the first five balls in the first game of his Big Bash League, Dale Steyn had the last laugh when he cleaned up Jake Weatherald on the final ball of the over.
Weatherald tried to hit another big shot in the last ball, but he mistimed it and failed to connect well with the bat and ended up giving a simple catch to Melbourne Stars all-rounder Glenn Maxwell.
