Dale Steyn breaks Shaun Pollock's record to become South Africa's leading Test wicket-taker

Dale Steyn dismissed Fakhar Zaman - his Test scalp No. 422 - to become South Africa's leading wicket-taker in Tests.

Dale Steyn became South Africa's leading wicket-taker in Test cricket when he dismissed Pakistani opener Fakhar Zaman on the opening day of the Boxing Day Test at Centurion. Steyn went past South African pace legend  Shaun Pollock, who held the national record of 421 wickets in Tests. It indeed is remarkable that Steyn broke the record in only his 89th Test,  considering the fact that Pollock had taken 108  matches to get to the tally.

Interestingly, Pollock was in the commentary box when Stey broke his record. "There it is... Long live the king," said an ecstatic Pollock after Steyn found the outside edge of Zaman's bat.

Steyn has been the spearhead of South African pace attack for more than a decade. He formed a lethal pace trio with Morne Morkel and Veron Philander and was integral to South Africa's stellar success in red ball cricket under both Graeme Smith and Faf Du Plessis' captaincy. 

Steyn had been in and out of international cricket for more than three years owing to a career-threatening injury he picked up in the 2015 Test series against Australia. He made a brief comeback into the Test arena against India but went out injuring his hamstring. In July 2018, Steyn made a Test comeback in the bilateral series against Sri Lanka but the flat and docile tracks denied him going past Pollock's record 421-wicket Test haul.

HERE'S THE MOMENT

#SAvPAK This is how it happened #DaleSteyn taking his 422 test wicket for South Africa, making him South Africa’s most successful and leading wicket taker. @DaleSteyn62 @EWNsport @simmiareff #ProteaFire #Pakistan. @OfficialCSA @SuperSportTV @tumisole @AshrafGarda pic.twitter.com/cGONLV7Co7

— iFaizel (@FaizelPatel143) December 26, 2018

Steyn along with England's James Anderson is widely regarded as the best seam bowlers of their generation. Steyn bowls at a brisk pace and has the ability to seam the red cherry both ways. His nagging lines outside off stump with the ability to move the ball in an out set up the majority of his dismissals. Not to forget his abilities reverse the old ball too.

HIGHEST WICKET-TAKERS FOR EACH TEAM IN TESTS

COUNTRY	BOWLER	WICKETS
Australia	Shane Warne	708
Bangladesh	Shakib Al Hasan	205
England	James Anderson	565*
India	Anil Kumble	619
New Zealand	Richard Hadlee	431
Pakistan	Wasim Akram	414
South Africa	DALE STEYN	422*
Sri Lanka	Muttiah Muralitharan	800 (WORLD RECORD)
West Indies	Courtney Walsh	519
Zimbabwe	Heath Streak	216

Steyn holds the record for the most 10-wickets hauls for South Africa in Test cricket. The pace ace was also the joint quickest bowler to reach the 400-wicket milestone in Test cricket.
Steyn is now the leader of the relatively new South African pace attack which has some exciting prospects in Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Duanne Olivier.

A fighter to the core, Steyn isn't resting easy on his laurels. He's spoken of aiming for 500 Test wickets and, ahead of his big day, he had said: "I haven’t saved myself just to take one more wicket than Polly (Pollock). There is a bigger goal at the end of the day.

"I will be highly honoured, but I will get back to my mark and try to take the next one." And indeed, he did.