South Africa pacer Dane Paterson was adjudged 'Player of the match' for taking seven wickets including a five-wicket haul against Sri Lanka in the second Test. The 35-year-old lashed out at his critics for doubting his selection in the second Test. He tagged a journalist as well and told them to look at his statistics in first-class cricket.
"Hi to all the haters that doubted my selection. This one is for you. Thanks for all the negative comments about my selection. At the end of the day it’s not about you. It’s about the team. @PoppingCreaseSA please relook at my first class stats before having a GO at me. Cheers," Paterson wrote on his X account (formerly Twitter).
Paterson replaced an injured Gerald Coetzee for the second and final Test of the series against Sri Lanka. He has played four Tests this year including two against New Zealand and one against Bangladesh. He made a comeback to the Test side after four years. The Cape Town-born pacer made his Test debut in 2020 against England.
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Paterson thrilled after maiden POTM award in Test cricket
This was Paterson's maiden five-wicket haul. He helped the Temba Bavuma-led side bowl out Sri Lanka for 328 in their first innings. Then, he took a couple of wickets of top-order batters as Sri Lanka lost the second Test by 109 runs.
"It feels very good, basically a team POTM, because Rickelton, Bavuma, Maharaj performed well on different days and today KG bowled really well. It's a good feeling, put in the work and get rewarded by bowling long spells. Happy to have won the game, thrilled to win a match that finished on Day 5. We play this game because we love it, I love bowling and coming at the batters everytime, it's just a surreal feeling. It's all sinking in, I didn't notice that I took 3 wickets in an over, everything was happening quickly, but it's a win for the team and we keep marching on," Paterson said in the post-match presentation.
South Africa one win away from WTC final
Paterson will be seen in action when South Africa take on Pakistan at home in the two-Test series starting later this month. South Africa are currently at the top of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 points table. The Proteas need one more win to qualify for their maiden WTC final.
