Highly-rated Gerald Coetzee celebrates impending Test debut with cracking Knights spell

Two days after Proteas Test coach Shukri Conrad revealed that he's going to "unleash" Gerald Coetzee in the series against the West Indies, the Knights quick celebrated the news with a fiery five-wicket haul on the opening day of his team's 4-Day Series encounter with the Dolphins in Bloemfontein.

The 22-year-old, who went on tour to Australia with South Africa last year and subsequently returned to take 17 wickets in the SA20 for Joburg Super Kings, displayed some typical characteristics of a tearaway quick in a spell of 5/56, which restricted the visitors from Durban to 253 in their first innings.

Given that those figures came off 15 overs, which translates into a relatively high economy of 3.8 per over, it's tempting to believe his scalps were taken through sheer pace.

Yet, that definitely wasn't the case.

READ | Ngidi dropped: Shukri ushers in new Proteas era with bold but clear calls

All of Coetzee's wickets came from brilliant pieces of incisive bowling, where brains outshone the brawn.

He started by squaring up Tshepang Dithole, who edged to slip, before ripping into the Dolphins' middle order with three vital strikes - two of them batters of national interest.

Khaya Zondo, dropped after some gutsy if limited exploits Down Under, was undone by a supreme delivery, a ripper on an off-stump line that drew the right-hander forward but bounced more prodigiously than the length suggested and was nicked off to keeper Gihahn Cloete.

In his next over, he trapped Keegan Petersen, who is expected to be back at No 3 against the Windies, in front with a classic in-ducker before dismissing innings mainstay Eathan Bosch LBW with a full one.

Coetzee was so convinced that it was out he didn't even bother turning around to face the umpire