Steyn puts whiskey in SA’s jar

The ball was dead when‚ with the sun slung low over Table Mountain‚ the crowd beyond fine leg at Newlands’ Kelvin Grove End rose and cheered on Friday.

Odd as that might seem‚ it wasn’t — the player chugging towards his fielding position had come back from the dead. Or something like that.

Dale Steyn acknowledged the recognition for his return from 13 months of injury‚ pain‚ surgery‚ frustration and rehab‚ fetched a drink from a cooler box‚ politely declined a swig of beer that had been proffered from the fun side of the fence‚ and stepped back over the rope to ready himself for business.

Soon‚ a familiar plaintive guitar riff and a dark refrain growled‚ heavy with the promise of violence‚ from the ground’s speakers.

“Musha rain dum-a-doo‚ dum-a-da

“Whack for my daddy‚ oh

“Whack for my daddy‚ oh

“There’s whiskey in the jar‚ oh …”

Thus did Steyn‚ warmed up and welcomed‚ signal that he was ready to go once more unto the breach from which he limped in November 2016‚ his shoulder splintered‚ his muscles ripped from the bone.

He was about to bowl in a test for the first time since that awful day at the WACA‚ and not one of the 14 912 pairs of eyes at Newlands on Friday was focused anywhere but on him.

Steyn’s first 13 deliveries passed without much to break the tension‚ save for Shikhar Dhawan trying to drive on the up and squirting an edge through gully for four.

Ball No. 14 was short and speared at Dhawan’s chest. He will say he tried to pull it. In truth he flailed at it hopelessly and sent a leading edge straight up into the clear blue sky.

Nobody moved. They wouldn’t dare — that was Steyn’s catch‚ and he took it comfortably.

This time there was no chainsaw celebration. Instead there was a humble‚ genuine gesture of relief and happiness — arms up‚ smiling.

Enter Virat Kohli‚ too easily derided as a dragon dwarf but in fact a fine and intelligent competitor who knows drama when he sees it. And this was drama.

By then Kohli had seen his team reduce South Africa to 12/3 on a wonderfully responsive pitch‚ which prompted this from batting coach Dale Benkenstein: “Luckily our phones get taken away otherwise I would have been looking for an Uber to get back to the hotel.

“I was sitting there wondering how we were going to score a run.”

AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis didn’t wonder. Instead they put on 114 for the fourth wicket and South Africa recovered to 286. By stumps India had shambled to 28/3.

“The genius of AB de Villiers and the tenacity of the captain‚ that partnership got us back in the game and got that belief back in the changeroom.”

By late afternoon the belief nestled with Steyn. His first ball to Kohli was another bouncer that produced another flap and another leading edge. This one fell safely to earth.

The other Dale in South Africa’s dressingroom knew he was watching a plan come together.

“I think Ottis (Gibson‚ South Africa’s head coach) has been outstanding with him over the last couple of weeks to get him back in‚” Benkenstein said.

“He had another scare and I think that one wicket will do him the world of good.”

Scare? What scare?

“He hasn’t bowled for so long so every time he bowled there was a little niggle here or there‚ and then you lose a bit of confidence.

“As a bowler he’s not exactly in the youth of his career‚ but I know Ottis has been brilliant with him.

“These last three or four days he’s been outstanding‚ and from what you saw out there he’s back near his best.” Or‚ you might say‚ at last there’s whiskey in the jar.