Photo Credit: SA20 League
Many fast bowlers travel to India filled with trepidation about the pitches, but Gerald Coetzee will soon want to bowl nowhere else.
The Joburg Super Kings tearaway was the Proteas’ leading wicket-taker at last year’s 50-overs World Cup in India.
And now, playing in his first season in the Indian Premier League for Mumbai Indians, he is once again rampaging through the opposition batting line-ups and is currently the leading overseas bowler in the competition.
The 23-year-old has 12 wickets already in seven matches – just one below his MI teammate Jasprit Bumrah, who is the current overall leading wicket-taker on 13.
Coetzee was excellent in Thursday’s evening’s dramatic victory over Punjab Kings in Mullanpur.
The fast bowler claimed 3/32 in a spell where he charged in throughout and looked fully at ease with his body, especially after only recently recovering from a long term injury that kept him on the sidelines for the entire Betway SA20 Season 2.
Injury prevented Coetzee from taking part in SA20 Season 2 for Joburg Super Kings
Coetzee is relishing his maiden IPL experience and provided insight into what gives him the energy to bowl as fast as he does.
“It (IPL) is incredible. It is completely different to anything I have experienced. The fan experience is incredible. It is wild!” he said.
“The answer (to bowling fast) is that you just have to eat a lot of biltong and then the wheels will come up.”
MI had reduced Punjab Kings to 77/6 in pursuit of 193 for victory and seemed set to close out a comfortable victory.
But Shashank Singh (41 off 25 balls, 2×4, 3×6) and Ashutosh Sharma (61 off 28 balls, 2×4, 7×6) led an incredible fightback to bring Punjab back into the game.
Sharma, in particular, was hitting the ball to all parts and was virtually single-handedly winning the game from the jaws of defeat for Punjab until Coetzee’s intervention at the death.
The fast bowler showed good execution of his skills by delivering a slower ball to have Sharma caught on the boundary.
There are few more pressurised situations for any cricketer than bowling at the death in the IPL, but Coetzee has taken to it like a duck to water.
“It was a good wicket (Sharma) to get. He was cruising the game for them. It was a pace off delivery on a big boundary, because he didn’t hit it too badly,” he said.
“I mostly bowl in the middle overs. In my younger days I bowled in the Powerplay, but as a modern-day cricketer you have to be adapting to whatever role you are given
“I love the middle overs and I’ve grown to love bowling at the death. As someone who likes to take wickets, it’s the prime time to take wickets.”
Name of Author: SA20 League
SA20, officially known as the Betway SA20 for sponsorship reasons, is a Twenty20 franchise cricket tournament in South Africa organized by Cricket South Africa (CSA). First held in the 2023 season, the league features six city-based teams. Sunrisers Eastern Cape won the first two editions of the tournament.
