Top 5 ODI innings of Quinton de Kock
Quinton de Kock is one of the finest wicketkeeper-batsmen of the current generation. His fearless striking and handy glove-work have already earned him comparisons to the greats of the game like Adam Gilchrist and Mark Boucher.
De Kock made his ODI debut at the age of 20, and it took a very short span of time for him to showcase his humongous talent to the cricketing world. In less than a year since his debut, he smashed three consecutive centuries against India - a shared world record then, before it was bettered by Kumar Sangakkara.
Some of the feats which he has accomplished at his age are unfathomable, and it's easy to see why he is already being heralded as a future great.
De Kock has played 101 ODIs and has scored a total of 4249 runs with an impressive average of 44.26. This includes 13 hundreds and 18 fifties.
De Kock has played many great knocks over the years, and here we take a look at the five most prominent ODI innings played by him.
#5 135 vs India at Johannesburg, 2013
In the very first game of the 3-match ODI series against India at Johannesburg, De Kock set the tone for the series with his flamboyant 135 off 121 balls.
India won the toss and invited South Africa to bat first. De Kock opened the innings along with Hashim Amla, and the two went on to add 152 runs for the first wicket.
De Kock was looking in supreme touch and kept scoring runs even after his opening partner departed. He raced to his second ODI ton in the 34th over.
He went on to score 135 before he fell to the part-timer Virat Kohli. AB de Villiers and JP Duminy further hammered the Indian bowling attack and South Africa managed to put a big total of 358 in 50 overs.
Chasing 359 runs for victory, India got off to a rough start as they were tested by some top class fast bowling from Steyn and Morkel. The visitors were 4 down for just 65 runs which effectively knocked them out of the contest.
MS Dhoni tried to put up a fight but he didn't get enough support from the other end. India were all out for 217 and South Africa won the match by 141 runs. Not surprisingly, De Kock was awarded the 'Player of the match'.