PUNE: In-form wicketkeeper batter Quinton de Kock on Wednesday, etched his name into the record books with a sensational century against New Zealand in the ICC World Cup 2023.
De Kock, who scored his fourth century in the ongoing mega event, has now scored the most runs (545) by a wicketkeeper batter in a single edition of the World Cup.
He brought up his 21st ODI century in 103 balls and went on to score 114 in 116 deliveries, laced up with 10 boundaries and three sixes.
The left-handed batter surpassed legendary Sri Lankan batter Kumar Sangakkara’s tally of 543 runs, which he achieved in the 2015 World Cup.
Furthermore, Quinton de Kock, with four centuries in the ICC World Cup 2023 also joined Sangakkara in the list of most hundreds in a World Cup and is now only behind India’s Rohit Sharma, who scored five in the previous edition.
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Earlier in the tournament, de Kock scored 100 against Sri Lanka, 109 against Australia and played a marathon 174-run knock against Bangladesh.
Coming back to the match, Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen’s centuries powered South Africa to post a massive total of 357/4 against New Zealand.
The Proteas had a contrasting start to their innings as their captain Temba Bavuma (24) perished cheaply with just 38 runs on the board.
Following an early blow, van der Dussen and Quinton de Kock joined forces to dominate New Zealand bowlers and added 200 runs for the second wicket before experienced pacer Tim Southee finally got rid of the latter.
Meanwhile, van der Dussen stood his ground firm and batted till the 48th before he, too, fell victim to Southee.
The right-handed batter top-scored for South Africa with 133 in 118 balls, smashing nine boundaries and five sixes.
Besides them, hard-hitting batter David Miller scored a quickfire half-century to further boost South Africa’s total.
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