Dale Steyn says South Africa will hunt Australia like 'wild dogs'

South Africa’s premier fast bowler Dale Steyn has sounded out a warning to the Australians and said that his side’s bowlers will hunt like a “pack of wild dogs” and will be ready to “wear down” Australia when they travel Down Under for a three-match Test series in November.

Steyn who was instrumental in Proteas winning the 2nd Test against the Black Caps also observed that the South African bowling attack are more skilled than the Aussies.

“You have to build pressure for long periods of time; wait for their mistake, because they do attack you,” Steyn was quoted as saying by Sport24.

“I feel our bowling line-up will perhaps be a bit more patient and skilled than theirs. Besides Josh Hazlewood, their attack is very conscious of attacking, wicket-taking. If you can bat well you can kind of get through it.”

“Our attack … we are more like wild dogs: we wear you down, wear you down. But we are also very capable of breaking your back, and taking you down quickly. We’ve got the guys to do the job … we just need the right number to do it,” the paceman added.

There was talk about the spearhead’s value in the team as the 33-year-old did not get to play enough Test match due to injuries and was not bowling particularly well, but he proved the doubters wrong as he came storming back in the 2nd Test against New Zealand, picking up 10 wickets in the match to dismantle the visitors’ batting line-up.

ODIs followed by Tests

With the Australian tour coming up, the speedster has served a warning to the Australian side. Before the Test series, the two cricketing giants will fight it out in a 5-match ODI series in South Africa later this month.

The opening Test match will be played in Perth from November 3 followed by Hobart and Adelaide for the 2nd and the 3rd match respectively.

Fierce rivalry

Both the teams have a great rivalry in Test cricket and their last meeting in Australia was way back in 2012-13. The tour is widely remembered as Ricky Ponting’s farewell series and Faf Du Plessis’ debut series.

The side contested in an intense 3-Test series, where South Africa won the final test at Perth, spoiling Ponting’s farewell and bagging the series 1-0.

Australia got their revenge when they toured South Africa in 2014 when they defeated the hosts 2-1 in the three-match series.

It was another series full of intense action, with Mitchell Johnson the star man, picking up the most wickets in the series with 22 wickets at an average of 17.36 and bagging the Player of the Series.