Quinton de Kock's 37-ball moment of glory
It lasted for only 37 balls or about 60 minutes or so. The duration of 37 balls is too little in Test cricket and maybe too insignificant as well. But for South Africa, those 37 balls was the best thing to happen to them in the first Test against England.
It was aggressive, it was hopeful and it was manically courageous as well. Most importantly, it threatened the home team who so far in the three days, haven’t even received any hint of a challenge from their opponents.
During those 37 balls, Joe Root for the first time in this Test looked worried, Moeen Ali seemed tensed and the England camp felt the game might slip away from them.
It wasn’t the greatest of all counter-attacks, it wasn’t the bravest batting display in Tests nor was it too good to be remembered for ages but when it was happening, it looked like the only thing worth paying attention to in this morbid world.
It wasn’t the monsoon, it was just a passing shower, but it was the most beautiful passing shower one could ever witness.
It was Quinton de Kock, scoring a brisk 51 against England at Lord’s in just 37 balls.
From behind the stumps with wicket-keeping gloves in his hands, he witnessed Vernon Philander wrecking England’s top order with the new ball on the first session of the Test. Then he watched Joe Root. He watched Root for a long time, batting nonchalantly, negotiating the threat of new ball as if he is doing that every morning since his birth and scoring a big hundred.
De Kock then witnessed the rare calmness in Ben Stokes’ batting and the sturdiness in Ali’s compact 87. He also watched Stuart Board smashing the ball, having fun with the bat and taking the game further away from South Africa.
Then the South African wicket-keeper changed his seat. He moved to the pavilion and from there, watched his teammates bowing down to the magic of Broad. He watched Ali spinning the web to choke the Proteas batsmen and Bavuma’s relentless fight and Rabada’s struggles.
All this wasn’t exciting to watch. It was frustrating to watch his bowlers throw it away after starting well and his batsmen wasting the opportunity to bat on a good track.
After witnessing these agonising events for two days, the left-hander finally got a chance to bat. Following 183 overs and 18 batsmen taking their guards, de Kock, with the best batting average in this South Africa team, two fifties in his last three innings came to bat at number eight.
It must have been frustrating, for the fans and to the man himself.
de Kock brought with him to the crease, confidence, and courage. On his second ball, he smashed Dawson towards point region for three runs and a ball later, pulled him for a four over mid-wicket. To Ali, the other spinner, he went back and punched a four in cover.
It was an assault, a calculated assault. To counter it, Root took the new ball and brought back his ace weapons. But nothing budged de Kock who continued attacking England and continued accumulating runs.
Extra cover: SK Play of the day: Kasigo Rabada dismisses Ben Stokes yet again, keeps absolutely mum
Against Anderson, who swung the new red cherry dangerously, the South African wicket-keeper kept quiet but went berserk against Broad, the other new ball bowler. He butchered Broad and forced Root to bring back Ali who was plundered for two fours in one over.
Finally to England’s relief, in the 93rd over, the combined effort of Anderson’s accurate bowling and Stokes’ sharp fielding brought curtains on the de Kock show.
But during that brief period of brilliance, the left-hander reduced South Africa’s deficit, scored the second fastest fifty at Lord’s and pumped life to the Test.
Broad is a champion pace bowler. After 102 Tests, he averages 28.54 with the ball, has 350 plus wickets and will go down as one of the best English bowlers of all time courtesy of his numerous match winnings spells.
To right-handers, he is good but to left-handers he is lethal. Since June 2015, his average against left-handers is 18.40. That is a phenomenal number.
De Kock, a left-hand batsman, had to face Broad with the new ball. The odds, without a doubt, were against the batsmen. But four overs later, Broad was taken out of the attack and the batsman was basking in the glory for winning this short duel.
The South African was all over the place when Broad bowled his first three balls. The first took the bottom edge, the second the inside edge and the third beat the bat convincingly. But for the next three balls, it was the batsman roaring, and how. A whip off pads was followed by two fantastic square drives. All three went for boundaries.
Two overs later, Root stationed a man at deep square leg and Broad delivered one straight and full. The trap was in place but the 24-year-old batsman was in full flow. The powerful wrists and strong arms were enough to fetch a boundary beating that man. One ball later came out a glorious straight drive, fetching four runs and some praise.
The last boundary of the over stamped de Kock's victory over Broad in glamorous style. A wide of off stump ball was smashed to long-on. It was not a counter-attack, it was a man venting out his frustration, it was a batsman at his full glory, and it was an act of dominance and sheer marvel.
That’s why it required a special effort to end this blitzkrieg. And that special effort unsurprisingly came from England’s wonder boy, Ben Stokes. de Kock came forward to attack Anderson and drove the ball to the square region with power. Stokes, with surgical precision, bent down and caught the ball inches above the ground.
A thrilling fielding effort ended a thrilling batting effort.
The most beautiful batting effort from South Africa in this Test.