Quinton de Kock hits his 18th ODI century as he surpasses Jacques Kallis
The opening batsman of the South African cricket team, Quinton de Kock, smashed his 18th ODI century to surpass the legendary Jacques Kallis in terms of centuries scored for the Proteas. South Africa is facing Sri Lanka in their opening match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
De Kock smashed 100 runs in 84 balls as he hit 12 boundaries and three sixes against Sri Lanka in New Delhi. This was his 18th ODI century, which took him above Kallis to become the player with the fourth-most centuries in ODIs for South Africa.
De Kock also stitched a 204-run partnership with Rassie van der Dussen, which is the fourth-highest for South Africa in the ODI World Cup. This was De Kock’s 5th ODI century against Sri Lanka and his 5th ODI ton on Indian soil.
South Africa were put to the test first by the captain of Sri Lanka, Dasun Shanaka, after he won the toss. The Proteas were dealt an early blow, losing captain Taemba Bavuma in the second over. De Kock and Van der Dussen then took the attack to the Lankans to turn the game’s tide.
Both batters kept the scoring rate high and completed their individual half-centuries while stitching a 204-run stand. De Kock went on to complete his century in the 31st over, but was dismissed on the very next ball by Matheesha Pathirana. De Kock tried to hit the Lankan pacer for back-to-back boundaries but was caught by Dhanajaya de Silva at mid-on.
After the dismissal of De Kock, Van der Dussen went on to complete his fifth ODI century while keeping the pressure on Sri Lanka alongside Aiden Markram.