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Steyn shreds Indian batting line-up

South African fast bowler Dale Steyn took a career-best 7-51
South African fast bowler Dale Steyn took a career-best 7-51
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • South Africa paceman Dale Steyn takes eight wickets on third day of first Test in Nagpur
  • Steyn claims career-best 7-51 to skittle India for 233 to earn a huge lead of 325
  • He then dismisses first-innings centurion Virender Sehwag as India reach 66-2 at stumps
  • New Zealand take unassailable 2-0 lead in one-day series against visiting Bangladesh
RELATED TOPICS
  • Dale Steyn
  • Virender Sehwag
  • South Africa
  • India
  • Cricket

(CNN) -- South Africa pace bowler Dale Steyn ripped through India's batsmen on the third day of the first cricket Test in Nagpur, taking eight wickets as the hosts were forced to follow on.

Steyn took a career-best 7-51 as India, resuming on 25-0 overnight, were skittled for just 233 to concede a massive first-innings deficit of 325 runs.

The 26-year-old, whose previous best figures were 6-49, then took the wicket of first-innings centurion Virender Sehwag as India reached 66-2 at stumps on Monday.

The haul took Steyn to 193 wickets in his 37th Test and gave South Africa a great chance of winning the two-match series against a side who usurped their No. 1 ranking in the five-day format late last year.

He claimed five wickets in less than four overs after tea as India collapsed from 221-4.

"We actually had the ball changed when we came out after tea because the seam had popped open on the old one," Steyn told reporters. "We hoped to get a bit of reverse swing -- it worked in our favor."

Steyn's strike partner Morne Morkel set the tone when he had Gautam Gambhir caught by wicketkeeper Mark Boucher with his first delivery of the day, with the opener not adding to his overnight score of 12.

Steyn then bowled Murali Vijay for four as the No. 3 failed to play a stroke, and he took the vital wicket of Sachin Tendulkar, the highest run-scorer in Test history, when he tempted the veteran to edge a drive to Boucher for just seven.

The belligerent Sehwag then added 136 with debutant Subramaniam Badrinath as he smashed his 18th Test ton before giving away his wicket to Wayne Parnell with an easy catch to J.P. Duminy deep in the cover field.

Sehwag hit 15 boundaries in 139 deliveries -- the same amount that the 29-year-old Badrinath faced in making 56, who took India safely to tea along with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

But Dhoni fell to left-arm spinner Paul Harris in the first over of the final session, and Steyn had Badrinath caught at midwicket before running through the tail.

Proteas captain Graeme Smith made the Indians bat again, despite Boucher not being able to take the field due to a back injury.

Morkel again accounted for Gambhir as the opener misjudged an inswinger and had his castle wrecked after shouldering arms, and Steyn had Sehwag caught by Smith at slip for 16.

Vijay (27) and Tendulkar (15) added 44 in the remainder of the 23 overs scheduled to be bowled before stumps, but will face a massive task to prevent India going 1-0 down in the series.

Meanwhile, New Zealand took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the one-day series against visiting Bangladesh, winning the second match by five wickets in Dunedin on Monday.

The tourists managed only 183-8 in their 50 overs as Mushfiqur Rahim top-scored with 86, and the Kiwis reached their target from only 27.3 overs with Ross Taylor smashing 78 off in a 52-ball innings featuring five sixes.