5 greatest performances by Dale Steyn in the subcontinent

#2 7/51 & 3/57 vs India, Nagpur 2010

This remains Steyn's best performance in the subcontinent to date

Match Result: South Africa won by an innings and 6 runs

Dale Steyn and his love affair with India continued in the 2010 series. This time, the South Africans were visiting India after back-to-back home series against England and Australia, so it seemed a big challenge for them to acclimatize to the subcontinent conditions.

Yet, everything went out of the window in the first Test at Nagpur. After winning the toss and electing to bat first, the duo of Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis plundered the Indian attack, putting on 340 runs over more than 100 overs.

Kallis eventually got out for 173, while Amla notched up an unbeaten 253 to grind the Indian bowlers to the dust.

Once the batsmen had done their job, it was up to Steyn and Co. to bowl their team to a commanding lead, and that they did. After Morkel removed Gautam Gambhir, Steyn followed up with the wickets of Murali Vijay and the great Sachin Tendulkar.

Despite the early setbacks, India’s attack was led by the flamboyant Virender Sehwag and Subramaniam Badrinath, who put on 136 for the fourth wicket. Once Parnell got rid of Sehwag for 109, the next phase solely belonged to Dale Willem Steyn.

On a flat wicket in Nagpur, Steyn produced an outstanding spell of reverse swing, as India collapsed from 221-4 to 233 all out in a matter of seven long overs. Steyn finished with mind-boggling figures of 7/51, handing the South Africans a mammoth 325-run lead.

After asking the Indians to follow on, Steyn got rid of the first inning centurion Sehwag, followed by the wickets of Wriddhiman Saha and Amit Mishra to fire his side to another innings victory and yet another 1-0 lead in India.

As was the case two years ago, the Indians denied the Proteas a series win by winning their next game at the Eden Gardens. Steyn finished as his team’s top wicket-taker with 11 scalps.

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#1 5/54 & 4/45 vs Sri Lanka, Galle 2014

Steyn made an impressive comeback from injury

Match Result: South Africa won by 153 runs

After the retirement of the inspiring Graeme Smith, the baton of leadership fell to Hashim Amla. His first assignment was a tough tour to Sri Lanka in 2014 and for the transition to be smooth, he needed his premier fast bowler Dale Steyn to be fit and firing.

By the time Smith had retired, Steyn had started to struggle with injuries and as a result, South Africa had lost the home series against the Aussies before the Sri Lanka tour.

A strong start by the South African batsmen at Galle made it easier for Steyn to find his rhythm and replicate his best. After posting 455/9, courtesy of centuries from Dean Elgar and JP Duminy, Steyn bowled one of his more disciplined spells in the subcontinent. Against a strong batting lineup containing the likes of Sangakkara and Jayawardene, the pacers’ lines and lengths were spot on.

He ended with figures of 5/54, as the Lankans were bowled out for 292. A quick-fire fifty from AB de Villiers set a target of 370 with four sessions of the game remaining.

As was the case in the first innings, the pace duo of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel (both claiming 4 wickets apiece) ensured that the Lankans got nowhere near the total, giving the Proteas a 153-run victory.

On his return from injury, Steyn duly took home the Man of the Match award for his persistence and never-say-die attitude. A draw in the second Test ensured that the Proteas won their first series in Sri Lanka in more than 20 years. Steyn once again finished as his team’s top wicket-taker in the series (13).