http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757’s sole focus during England tour is winning: Dale Steyn –Cricket News Update
According to South African pacer http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DW-Steyn-c1409, his team’s sole objective, going into the all-important Test series against England at the Kennington Oval on July 19, is victory.
“We don't care how the series goes, as long as we win,” Steyn said, speaking before his team’s final warm-up match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Canterbury-c775. “It doesn't need to be pretty, it doesn't need to be beautiful with guys scoring hundreds and guys taking five-fors.
We just want to get the job done.”
The Test series is the most crucial part of the Proteas’ tour of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c749, with the top spot on the International Cricket Council’s Test team rankings riding on its outcome. The Poms are currently the world’s number one Test team with a rating of 117, but
South Africa, at number two, have a rating of 116, and are perfectly poised to knock England off the top berth should they emerge victorious from the extended-overs leg of the tour.
The Proteas have only graced the top spot on the rankings for a brief period of 4 months in 2008 – otherwise, they have been forced to remain second best for years. However, with the margin of points between the rankings drastically reduced, owing to recent
slip-ups on England’s part (including a humiliating 0-3 whitewash at the hands of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 earlier this year), and South Africa’s unbeaten away from home record since 2006, the tourists look all set to assert their superiority.
“We've got experience and the guys know how to bowl in different conditions,” Steyn said, labelling the current Proteas line-up “fantastic”. “It's also been the same group of guys for quite a while and there's a lot of trust between us.”
Steyn, currently ranked the world’s top Test bowler, with 272 wickets from 54 Tests to his name, is so keen on seeing his team attain a similar top status, that he has admitted his own individual performance won’t matter as long as South Africa are able
to emerge triumphant.
“Even if I only take one wicket in the whole series, as long as we win ... I will be stoked,” he said.
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