Gerald Coetzee, the fast bowler for the Mumbai Indians, may not have lived up to the hype just yet—he has only taken three wickets in three IPL 2024 matches, including a wicketless performance against the Rajasthan Royals on Monday at the Wankhede Stadium—but the South African star made history on Monday when he overtook Mayank Yadav to record the fastest delivery in IPL history.
Barely two nights prior, in the Lucknow Super Giants match against Punjab Kings, bowler Mayank of the Lucknow Super Giants made his debut. He surprised PBKS captain Shikhar Dhawan with a delivery that clocked 155.8 kmph. With three wickets at a cost of 27 runs and nine over-150 thunderbolts, the young Indian pacer wowed the cricket community during his outstanding middle-overs spell.
On Monday, though, Coetzee smashed Mayank’s record with a 157.4 kmph snorter in the IPL 2024 match against Rajasthan. The ball soared high over the wicketkeeper’s head for a boundary in the final ball of Rajasthan’s victorious chase at the Wankhede thanks to a top-edge from Riyan Parag, who had just celebrated his half-century.
With that explosion against the Royals, Coetzee not only topped the IPL 2024 charts but also made an entry into the all-time IPL list, just missing Shaun Tait’s 13-year record by a little margin. The Australian legend’s 2011 IPL delivery of 157.71 kmph keeps him at the top.
Mumbai selected Coetzee for the mini-auction in December of last year as a result of his outstanding performance at the 2023 World Cup in India, where he made history as the first bowler from South Africa to take 20 wickets in a single 50-over match. His breakthrough SA20 season last year, in which he took 23 wickets, came before this. But in three games for Mumbai, the right-armer has only claimed three wickets at an economy rate of 11.43.
