Faf du Plessis: Dale Steyn “has put a peg in the ground to say that he still is very much good enough to play one-day cricket for South Africa”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

South Africa captain Faf du Plessis believes pace bowler Dale Steyn’s performance in the recently-concluded ODI series against Zimbabwe proves that he still belongs in the ODI team.

Steyn returned to the format for the first time since October 2016, and even though he featured in two out of the three matches played, he had a major impact.

In the second ODI in Bloemfontein, he struck a career-best 60 not out took two wickets. He followed that up with figures of 3-29 off 9.3 overs in the third ODI in Paarl.

Overall, Steyn scored 64 runs in two matches at an average of 64, and claimed five wickets at an average of 9.60.

“I think what Dale has done, he certainly has put a peg in the ground to say that he still is very much good enough to play one-day cricket for South Africa,” Du Plessis was quoted as saying by Sport24. “It’s nice for us, the holes are slowly but surely starting to fill up.

“We need three wicket-taking fast bowlers and we’ve got that with Dale, Lungi (Ngidi) and KG (Kagiso Rabada). They are very different … Dale is still bowling quick, but his skill factor is right up there.”