Proud Morkel joins elite club
SPEEDSTER: DAY TO REMEMBER DESPITE THE HARD WORK Williamson equals Kiwi record as he piles on the runs.
Morne Morkel will remember the day of his 250th Test wicket as one of hard toil on day three of the third Test match against New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton yesterday.
The lanky seamer became the sixth South African bowler to reach the milestone, joining Shaun Pollock (421), Dale Steyn (417), Makhaya Ntini (390), Allan Donald (330) and Jacques Kallis (291) on the all-time wicket-takers list.
Morkel had a successful debut as a fresh 22-year-old against an Indian line-up boasting batting superstars in Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni, and 11 years on he is faced with another daunting challenge in the form of a rescue-mission to help the Proteas keep the Test alive with two days to play.
“That was a hard day out in the field,” he said. “The outfield was heavy with the amount of rain we had, it was hard graft out there, but I’m sitting here tonight very happy with my performance with the ball. Thinking back 11 years ago when I bowled my first over to Sachin (Tendulkar), I was very nervous, and to think of 250 wickets, I’m quite happy with that.”
New Zealand’s top order showed patient application and discipline following their poor effort in Wellington, an innings anchored by captain Kane Williamson, who was unbeaten on 148. Williamson remains the key wicket if the Proteas are to change the momentum of the match back in their favour, especially with the limited time remaining in the match.
“They are a quality outfit, they have quality players,” Morkel said of the batting performance. “Up front they left very well, they played a patient game and waited for us to attack and to come a little bit straighter and scored. The wicket is softer, so as soon as the ball loses the hardness it is easier to score. I won’t take anything away from how they batted, Kane was exceptional and the openers played really well.” – ANA