South African captain Graeme Smith shoved the ignominy of follow-on down India’s throat only after his pacers had assured him that they had enough energy left to have another go at the home side batsmen, speedster Dale Steyn said.
In reply to South Africa’s massive first innings total of 558 for six declared, India were bundled out for 233 with Steyn being the wrecker-in-chief with his devastating seven for 51, in the first Test here.
The speedster said the bowlers were not tired and so it was decided to ask India bat again.
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“There was a huddle after the Indian first innings. The batters came and told us that we were 300-odd runs ahead and if the bowlers had enough gas on tank to go on and bowl another 26-27 bowlers.
“We said, we were not finished yet and it would be good to take a couple of wickets in the second innings. We told them we had enough fuel in the tank,” said the 26-year-old pacer.
Steyn said his teammates adapted to conditions quite fast and that helped them a lot.
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“We have been speaking about these kind of wickets. We wanted to adapt as quickly as possible. We hit the right areas with the same intensity,” he said.
On his devastating bowling performance, Steyn sounded humble and said changing the ball around tea time helped him.
“On some days you can bowl the best of your life and not pick wickets and then you have some days when you bowl and get wickets. That’s cricket for you.
“There was a ball change because the seam split open and we came back after tea and the ball looped around a bit. It was a good thing and worked in our favour,” he said.