November 13, 2007	Tuesday	Ziqa’ad 02, 1428

JOHANNESBURG, Nov 12: Fast bowler Dale Steyn, who celebrated his first Test match 10-wicket haul as South Africa crushed New Zealand by 358 runs at the Wanderers Stadium on Sunday, said he was looking forward to having another crack at the struggling tourists on his home ground at Centurion next week.

Steyn had match figures of 10 for 93 as South Africa bowled out New Zealand for 172 in their second innings, winning with a day and a half to spare.

“I enjoy bowling at the Wanderers,” said Steyn. “It’s nice to see the ball carrying past the (batsman’s) shoulders. I’m looking forward to Centurion (starting Friday). Last time we played them there we won so it’s in their memory bank.”

The previous Centurion clash between the two teams in April 2006 also marked the first five-wicket haul for Steyn, 24, who is rapidly moving up the Test bowling rankings.

Captain Graeme Smith praised Steyn for a “superb effort” but said Steyn’s Man-of-the-Match performance had been aided by the efforts of fellow pace bowlers Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel and Jacques Kallis.

“The whole bowling unit bowled well around him. That allowed to bowl with that aggression and pace,” said Smith, who said South Africa had built on their series win in Pakistan last month. “Adapting to home conditions was always going to be the challenge for us and throughout the Test match we got better and better.”

Steyn, bowling at high pace and exploiting a pitch of variable bounce, took five for 59 after taking five for 34 in the first innings.

Captain Daniel Vettori made a fighting unbeaten 46 for New Zealand but his team were outclassed after making a good start to the match when they bowled out South Africa for 226 on the first day.

The Black Caps also suffered from injuries and illness, including an abdominal strain which brought an early end to the tour for strike bowler Shane Bond, who did not bat in the second innings.

It was announced that Kyle Mills would replace Bond in time for the second and final Test. Mills was originally selected for the tour but withdrew because of a calf strain from which he has now recovered. He had his best Test bowling figures of four for 43 in the 2005-06 clash at Centurion.

Jacob Oram is in doubt for Centurion after straining a hamstring while bowling Saturday. He batted with a runner on Sunday in making second highest score of 40.

“We’ll have a look at Jacob over the next few days. Hopefully we can rebuild,” said Vettori, who said his side were always in trouble after a poor first innings batting performance.

Vettori said New Zealand had bowled well on the first day but admitted that the batting was a concern.

“The batting has been a bit of a struggle throughout the tour but we’ve got some really good players and we’re hoping we can keep pushing forward. We know that to compete over here we have to keep building big totals,” he said.—AFP