A thread on Dale Steyn | @Fancricket12

Steyn's first impression was with the outswinger that flattened Vaughan's off-stump, but off the field, it was humble beginnings. At the time of debut, Steyn had just one pair of shoes. He didn't have "the money for more than one"

As Vaughan's mention suggests, Steyn's debut was against England, coming at Port Elizabeth in 2004. He'd played just 7 first-class games before he was picked.

Initially, the Titans provincial setup overlooked him but former SA batsman Daryll Cullinan had Steyn's back all along.

East London hosts the only river port in SA. It's also the city where Steyn took his initial steps.

In only his 5th FC game, he ran through the Warriors' batting with a five-for. Incidentally, in his previous FC game, he had also dismissed his future Test skipper, Graeme Smith.

Ahead of the Karachi Test vs Pakistan in 2007, Steyn's colleague Morne Morkel injured his foot. With Shaun Pollock's career on the wane, it catapulted Steyn into being one of the mainstays.

In the 2nd innings, he produced a game-changing spell to pilot SA to a defining Test win.

Steyn's teammate, Jacques Kallis, had bowled three maidens in a row but Younis Khan was unmoved on 126*. SA needed a spark and it came from Steyn.

With the ball reversing, he bowled an inswinger.. it kept low and the job was done! Steyn finished with a five-for, SA won by 160

Nov 16, 2007: Craig Cumming, the Canterbury & NZ opener, was playing a gritty hand when a vicious short ball from Steyn fell him.

Cumming loved the pull and hook but had a tendency to go front and across. Beaten for pace, he was smacked on the helmet and had blood on his face..

Cumming sustained a cheekbone fracture & a broken jaw. Six plates were inserted into his cheek and one just above his eye.

The purpose here isn't to get into the grisly details but to suggest how deceptively quick Steyn was in '07. And he was getting quicker, better by the day.

2008: Sehwag's triple ton in Chennai had sent SA on a leather hunt. It was then Steyn again who helped his team come back in Ahmedabad, where a hint of seam movement on offer was enough for India, and for Sehwag.

But SA still had to breach 'The Wall' aka Rahul Dravid....

Steyn won that battle with Dravid. He pitched the ball up, got it to straighten and bowled Dravid, beating his drive. He even greeted VVS Laxman with a bumper

Steyn finished with 5 for 23. India were shot out for just 76. Not a lot of bowlers have done this to India at home.

MCG MAGIC: At the iconic coliseum, Steyn yet again upped his game to an elevated level. In the 1st innings, with the older ball, he went round the wicket and dismissed Katich and Hussey. In the 2nd essay, he tricked Hayden into playing an uppish drive with a short cover in place

The legend, however, reserved his best for Symonds. He bowled the inswinger that straightened to produce the edge. Steyn took a 10-for in the match and his country won by 9 wickets. Interestingly, he also played his part with the willow, scoring a vital 76 in the 1st dig.

THE BATTLE OF TITANS: When Tendulkar and Steyn lock horns for supremacy in an intense and engrossing battle, it is a must-watch. In the Cape Town of 2011, the giants of the cricketing landscape left aficionados of the game spellbound.

Steyn extracted appreciable seam and with a cocked wrist, bowled one razor sharp outswinger after another. Enough deliveries whistled past the maestro's bat, but he soaked in the pressure.

Steyn bowled 66 deliveries over two spells, while Tendulkar took majority of the strike against the main threat (48 balls) and paddled through the hair-raising spells. Later, Steyn said: "He is such a good player, there is no point wasting your energy bowling at him."

Steyn also had another believe-it-or-not battle against the Indian batsmen in Nagpur and this time, he came out on top. He swung the new ball and also found prodigious swing with the old ball to pick up a 7-for in the first essay.

And in the middle of his rip-roaring spells, Steyn again found himself up against Tendulkar. This time around, he tested Tendulkar in that one square foot window outside off before administering the killer punch with the outswinger.

Steyn observed it was the ball change before the Tea break that helped him to generate old ball swing. The paceman produced one more supreme spell of reverse swing at Port Elizabeth v AUS in 2014. The highlight of the spell was Steyn snuffing Clarke and Haddin out with late swing