De Kock scored a special century after 1413 days, due to which he also broke the record.Image Credit source: PTI
South Africa’s star wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock continued his excellent form after returning from retirement and scored a brilliant century. De Kock scored a century in just 80 balls in the deciding match of the ODI series between India and South Africa in Visakhapatnam. South Africa, batting first, had lost a wicket in the first over but despite this, Quinton de Kock batted brilliantly and scored his 23rd century in ODI cricket. Along with this, he also left behind three greats including Sourav Ganguly.
De Kock replied with a century
Quinton de Kock, who was retired from ODI cricket for almost 2 years, returned from retirement in November itself and scored a century and 2 half-centuries in 3 consecutive matches against Pakistan. However, in the first two matches of the series against India, his bat did not do much and he could score only 8 runs. But when the series was tied and the last match came, De Kock showed his old style. Visakhapatnam Attacked the Indian bowlers.
Ryan Rickleton’s wicket fell on the fifth ball of the match, while the South African team did not get much runs in the first 3-4 overs. But once left-handed batsman De Kock started hitting boundaries, it became difficult to stop him. This dashing batsman completed his half-century in just 42 balls and after that he became more aggressive. To score the next 50 runs, he spent only 38 balls and completed his 23rd ODI century by hitting a six off Harshit Rana in the 30th over.
Record century after 1413 days
With this, De Kock scored an ODI century against India after a long gap of 1413 days. His last century came on 23 January 2022. This is De Kock’s 7th century against India and thus he broke the record of legendary batsman AB de Villiers. Earlier, the record of maximum 6 centuries for South Africa against India was in the names of De Villiers and De Kock. But now De Kock has gone ahead in this. At the same time, he has also equaled the record of Sri Lankan legend Sanath Jayasuriya for most centuries against India.
What did these giants leave behind?
Not only this, with his 23rd century he has now reached 10th position in the list of most ODI centuries. With the century he scored in Visakhapatnam, De Kock left behind legends like Sourav Ganguly, David Warner and Tillakaratne Dilshan. Till now De Kock had 22 centuries in his name like these three. But in just his 161st innings, the South African opener left them all behind. However, he could not last long after the century and was out after scoring 106 runs in 89 balls. In this innings he hit 8 fours and 6 sixes.