Gerald Coetzee becomes first South African bowler with this record
Australia beat South Africa at Eden Gardens in Kolkata to reach their eighth ICC Cricket World Cup final. The Men in Yellow successfully chased down 213 in the second semi-final despite losing seven wickets. They survived a ferocious final spell from pacer Gerald Coetzee, who took two wickets. Coetzee became the first South African bowler with 20 wickets in a World Cup edition.
Coetzee bowls impactful spells
While both Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada were expensive, Coetzee delivered impactful spells in the match. He dismissed Steven Smith to spark hope in Australia's camp. Smith's dismissal brought down Australia to 174/6. Just when Josh Inglis started to look promising, Coetzee got rid of him. The latter gave away 47 runs in nine overs.
First SA bowler with this feat
With this, Coetzee became the first South African bowler to take 20 wickets in a World Cup edition. Before this tournament, Morne Morkel (17 wickets in 2015) and Lance Klusner (17 wickets in 1999) jointly held the record for taking the most wickets for SA in a WC edition. Jansen also picked up 17 wickets in World Cup 2023.
A look at his ODI career
Coetzee made his ODI debut for SA earlier this year in March 2023. He has scalped 31 wickets from 14 ODIs at an average of 23.22 as of now. He owns two solitary four-wicket haul in the format (4/44 against Afghanistan and 4/50 against Australia). Coetzee finished the 2023 WC with 20 wickets from eight matches at 19.80.
