Steyn starts well as Titans keep on rolling

Titans 199/4 Knights 161/7

Titans won by 38 runs DALE STEYN expected some rustiness, perhaps even nerves, but he came through his first match after a year out injured in fine fettle, claiming a crucial wicket and playing his part in another dominant display by the defending T20 champions.

The 34-year-old had last played competitively in the first Test of the series last year against Australia in Perth, where he injured his right shoulder. Subsequent surgery saw a pin inserted into the joint and Steyn has spent months doing rehab with an eye on getting back into the South African Test team.

His start, bowling the second over of the innings, on a chilly and blustery evening in Kimberley where the Titans made the Knights their next victim in the RamSlam, was an inauspicious one when he overstepped the frontline. Thereafter Knights opener, Grant Mokoena smashed three consecutive fours as Steyn conceded 17 runs in his first over back.

The Titans captain Albie Morkel switched him around, and he bowled his next over, the ninth of the innings into the strong wind, and had Knights captain Theunis de Bruyn, caught by AB de Villiers on the long-on boundary. That was a major turning point. David Miller lost his wicket in the next over trying to reverse sweep Tabraiz Shamsi

Steyn’s third over, which turned out to be his last went for just four runs, which included a wide. He seemed to be bowling within himself, which is understandable given how long he’s been out of the game. – Cricket Writer