Former South Africa speedster Dale Steyn hailed Gerald Cooetzee for his all-round heroics vs India in the 2nd T20I which propelled the Proteas to a 3-wicket win in Gqeberah on November 10, Sunday. Cooetzee’s all-round show with the ball as well as the bat was key in South Africa snatching victory from the jaws of defeat and level the 4-match series 1-1. Steyn said that with such bowling and six-hitting ability, he will be on the radar of IPL franchises. Cooetzee finished with figures of 1/25 in four overs and remained unbeaten at 19 from just 9 balls.
“Coetzee bowling gas, hitting HUGE sixes. If anything from this series, he’s getting some IPL attention,” Steyn wrote on X. With just two weeks left for the IPL 2025 mega auction, Coetzee’s performance could not have been more timely. The speedster will be in prime position to grab a lucrative deal in the mega auction at Jeddah. Coetzee was not retained by the Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2025 retention announcement.
Dale Steyn’s tweet
Cooetzee’s all-round show
South Africa were reeling at 86/7 in their chase of 125 runs vs India in the 2nd T20I. the pair of Tristan Stubbs and Coetzee stitched an unbeaten stand of 42 runs from just 20 balls to help South Africa cross the finish line with an over to spare. In the 1st T20I as well, Coetzee recorded figures of 3/37 despite India scoring a 200-plus total. The all-rounder showcased his batting prowess in the 1st T20I as well, by scoring an 11-ball 23 in their chase. Afer losing the 1st T20I, he could make a match-winning contribution with both bat and ball.
T20 World Champions, India’s 11-match winning streak in the shortest format of the game. Varun Chakravarthy’s five-wicket haul-worthy efforts went in vain as India lost the 2nd T20I. The Proteas held their nerves to clinch the low-scoring humdinger. It wasn’t looking likely that the hosts would be able to pull it off when they were struggling at 86/7, but Stubbs and Coetzee maintained enormous composure to take their side home. Earlier, South African bowlers did a brilliant job with the ball to restrict India to a slightly under-par score.
