Thursday, 14th August 2008
Rob Key and Herschelle Gibbs both lavished praise on South Africa paceman Dale Steyn after the tourists registered an impressive four-wicket win over England Lions at Grace Road.
The two batsmen top-scored for their respective teams with Key making 51 and Gibbs 81, and the duo felt Steyn’s pace and accuracy at the top of the innings helped set the tone for the game.
The paceman – making his return from injury - took the first wicket of Joe Denly before coming back to dismiss Luke Wright and Steve Kirby to finish with an impressive 3-27 from 8.5 overs and Gibbs was quick to acknowledge his role in the victory.
He said: “He hit his line and length right from word go. The more the (young) guys play, the more they understand what they need to do and when to do it. Steyn can’t seem to put a foot wrong, he has a really bright future and has become a world-class bowler.
“He is going to be a handful a lot of the time, his presence was missed in the last test. He is following in the steps of Shaun Pollock and Allan Donald, and if he stays fit he is going to do well for a long time.”
Key echoed those sentiments, and felt Steyn’s aggression up front put his Lions side on the back foot from word go.
He said: “We did not really threaten enough early on. Dale Steyn is a fantastic bowler and asked us some good questions early on – we probably did not do that enough. Herschelle Gibbs then showed us how to play a one-day innings.
“I don’t think we were particularly smart today with the bat. We lost a poor toss and conditions were fairly tough early on. It was a slow pitch, but we let ourselves down. We probably should have got around 220 or 230 and then we were not quite on it with the ball early on either.”
The captain was also disappointed his charges could not make a better fist of the match. “South Africa are a very good side but we got pretty much a drubbing, which is not a fair reflection on the sides,” he said.
“We are a much better side than that and it’s always disappointing to lose like that, because you walk off the filed thinking ‘we mucked up today’. We made it hard for ourselves rather than them. We should have been a bit smarter with bat and ball.
“Myself and Ravi were pulling it around nicely but Ravi went for a suicidal run and a couple of wickets went down. That’s what happens when you play a side like this. The disappointing thing is that we had a few soft dismissals and you can’t afford to do that. They put us under the cosh and we couldn’t put them under pressure because we kept losing wickets.”
Key anticipates a tough series for the full England squad in the NatWest series against South Africa which begins next week and said the win illustrates their strength in depth – as well as their ability to adapt to different conditions.
He said: “They are a strong side – they were missing Graeme Smith and Morne Morkel, one of the best young bowlers around. Conditions might suit them and these guys might be a bit more used to it.
“With the rain we’ve had it could be a battle with the seamers. They know how to play and England need to make sure that when they have a good day that they cash in – because they will.
Gibbs:, meanwhile, was just to be back playing for his country. He has been eagerly anticipating the one-day series against England and hopes his 81 will kick-start a positive series.
“It’s been nice to play,” he said. “I have been waiting for the sun to come out and try to score some runs. Hopefully today is a sign of things to come.”
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