Steyn emotional after breaking Proteas record

Centurion, December 27: Dale Steyn said he almost shed a tear after becoming South Africa's leading Test wicket-taker on day one of the series against Pakistan.

Steyn needed just the one wicket to surpass Shaun Pollock's tally of 421 and wasted no time in achieving the feat at Centurion on Boxing Day.

The paceman drew an edge from Fakhar Zaman off with the first delivery of the seventh over and Dean Elgar took the catch in the slips to give Steyn wicket number 422.

Steyn told SuperSport: "I must admit that when I was standing at the top of my mark (after taking the wicket) I almost pushed a tear.

"There was a lump in my throat because I didn't think it would happen."

What a day! #422andbeyond @DaleSteyn62 #SteynRemover pic.twitter.com/JGToUbaN9W

— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) 26 December 2018

The 35-year-old hopes he is nowhere near finished yet following a first day which ended with the Proteas 127-5 in reply to the visiting side's total of 181 all out, Duanne Olivier claiming Test-best figures of 6-37.

Steyn added: "There have been a lot of Test matches and, hopefully, there is a lot more to come."

Cricket South Africa chief executive Thabang Moroe hailed Steyn after his achievement, heralding the bowler as an inspirational figure for some of his current team-mates.

He said: "Dale is undoubtedly one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time and we are all very proud of his achievements, not just today, but throughout his career."

Moroe continued: "Above all, Dale has been a role model for the way the game should be played and has been the inspiration for our following generations of fast bowlers, represented by the likes of Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi.

"We congratulate him on this milestone and on a wonderful career to date and look forward to him writing the next chapter."