Steyn will slow down to extend his career

DALE STEYN says he must learn to sacrifice pace for self-preservation after admitting his recent run of injuries is in danger of shortening his shelf life.

South Africa’s talisman has not played a red-ball game since being part of the team that received a Boxing Day pummelling in Durban at the hands of England, with respective groin and shoulder injuries taking their toll.

But he returns to the city re-energised for this weekend’s clash with New Zealand, having only dabbled in T20 competitions for eight months.

Steyn, 33, will likely need to churn through as many overs in a single day back with the Proteas as the 18 he sent down for Glamorgan in the T20 Blast in June.

He said: “To be realistic, running in and bowling 145kph all day when you haven’t done it for a long time is going to be really tough. Objective number one is to get through 18 overs a day, maybe dropping in pace, but being as effective as possible – 140 is going to be enough.

“There’s going to be a day when I can rev it up to 145 and maybe even 150 but we’ve got somebody like KG (Kagiso Rabada) who can do that now.

“I love the idea of bowling long periods and attacking for a whole lot longer by bowling consistently hard lengths with the odd bouncer.”

The bowling unit has undergone a shake-up after Morne Morkel was ruled out of the two-Test series, with a fit-again Vernon Philander stepping in and Wayne Parnell receiving a first Test call-up in two years.

Injured AB de Villiers will play no part with Faf du Plessis taking over the captaincy.

The focus for New Zealand coach Mike Hesson is on blunting the Proteas bowling attack as his side seek a first Test series win over South Africa.

“From a seam bowling point of view, they are strong, they have got a lot of variety,” said Hesson, who retains the squad that beat Zimbabwe 2-0.“They have some bounce bowlers, some good swing bowlers, seam bowlers so that will provide its own challenges.”