South African speedster Dale Steyn has shown a recent peak in form in the ongoing Lanka Premier League (LPL). The outing against Jaffna saw ‘Steyn-gun’ back at his fiery best, as the 37-year-old right-arm quick collected 2-wickets for 33-runs. In fact, his spell proved to be quite an impactful one in fetching wooden-spooners Kandy Tuskers their second win of the season.
But more than his aggressive bowling, what really caught on among the fans was Steyn’s innovative celebration style. In lieu of his usual clenched-fist cheers, Steyn opted for a more fun and metaphorical appeal.
Opening the bowling attack, Gun produced dividends from the first-over itself when he produced a nick of Avishka Fernando’s bat. The ball showed a slight bit of motion and cut sharply away from the off-stump to leave the young Jaffna opener confused. Meanwhile, Kusal Perera, Kandy’s keeper-cum-captain, successfully completed the catch behind the stumps.
In-form Steyn unveils new fishing rod celebration
The entire Kandy unit was ecstatic, but none more than Steyn, who had some really interesting moves. Gesturing his right-arm in a throwing motion, Steyn imitated a pretend-pull back action that stirred a great deal of buzz among fans. It took some time before realizing that he was actually copying a fishing-rod action. Good catch, Mr. Steyn, if we can say that ourselves!
Feels soo good to see him back in action ?? #DaleSteyn #KandyTuskers #LPL2020
Love you @DaleSteyn62 ? pic.twitter.com/jGfS7uAQDw— Kalyan Babu Cult ? (@KalyanBabuCult) December 10, 2020
‘Fisherman’ Steyn was back in business in the 15th over when he dismissed Wanindu Hasaranga in a fashion similar to that of Avishka. Besides those two wickets, he also collected a stellar catch of Johnson Charles to complete an all-round solid game.
Match Summary
Steyn and co’s bowling brilliance proved too good for the Jaffna Stallions, as they put up just 150-runs on board. Seasoned Pakistani import topped the scoring chart with a well-balanced 59 off 44 balls. Nuwan Pradeep picked a 3-for in Kandy’s spirited bowling display.
In response, the Tuskers were off to a solid start, with skipper K Perera scoring 42-runs. Ultimately, though, a defining 56-run partnership between Irfan Pathan (25*) and Asela Gunaratne (52*) is what sealed the deal for the men-in-orange. Hasaranga, with figures of 4-0-23-2, finished as Jaffna’s most successful bowler.
Brief scores: Kandy Tuskers 151/4 (A Gunaratne 52*, N Pradeep 3/36) beat Jaffna Stallions 150/10 (S Malik 59, W Hasaranga 2/23) by six wickets.