OPINION
Follow Us“Memorable batting from one of South Africa’s finest-ever cricketers,” uttered Mark Nicholas on air and he isn’t wrong.
If you are watching cricket for the first time, you would possibly be thinking that Quinton de Kock is a magician. Well, you are almost right. He weaves his magic nonchalantly but with the wand that is called a bat. He is the modern-day prototype of a blockbuster.
It is almost impossible to define Quinton’s aura, his absence at times makes more wave than his presence. But his presence at all times makes more damage than you would expect. Here is a statistic that defines his damage: In ODIs since 2020, de Kock has a strike rate of 99.3, the second-best among openers (min 500 runs).
Only Tamim Iqbal, Janneman Malan, Shikhar Dhawan, and Shai Hope have scored more runs than the Proteas southpaw since 2020. De Kock is quintessentially the definition of white-ball cricket: fast and furious. All of this combined with the fact that he doesn’t put too much of a price on his wicket makes him wickedly dangerous.
Johannesburg, Mumbai, Durban, Rajkot, and Centurion, India have been at the receiving end of his mayhem five times prior to the Cape Town encounter. His sixth century against India was a thing of beauty; it instilled fear. The fact that it came off just 16 innings against the opposition, makes him stand out.
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A wicketkeeper’s job in ODIs is tough, an opener’s even tougher but if you combine both of them, you would understand what makes de Kock special. He is South Africa’s wicketkeeper, opener, and most importantly, a record-breaker.
As a wicketkeeper opener, the left-hander scored his 17th ODI century, surpassing the legendary Australian wicketkeeper batter, Adam Gilchrist. Only one century separates him from Herschelle Gibbs and all of that in 58 fewer innings. His approach is rather the most thrilling of ones in South Africa’s ODI history.
No other opener in South Africa’s ODI history has scored a boundary quicker than the 29-year-old, and only ten centuries separate him from the top of the list. Against India, an opponent that he likes the most, the left-hander has got to the 1000-run mark in just 16 innings.
Since the start of January 2019, the southpaw has scored the most runs (1451) for the Proteas, even more than Rassie van der Dussen, one of the mainstays of the South African team.
If you think that takes a hit on his consistency, you are terribly wrong.
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Bowling to de Kock is like playing with fire, if you are not well-equipped, you would instantly be burnt.
If you just look at the scorecard, de Kock’s century would look like a Cape Town thing but the making of this century began in Paarl. The 29-year-old showed no mercy: not against Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, or even Ravichandran Ashwin. His downfall was rather his own making: missing a slot delivery from Shardul Thakur.
Not only did he instill fear in Paarl, but he also set the tone for what he was going to do, go after every bowler. However, in Cape Town, the early loss of Janneman Malan forced the left-hander to change his method. He still played with fire but now with a little extra caution. After powerplay, he was only on 34, unlike in Paarl, where he was strong on 46.
Yet on multiple levels, this innings was a step ahead of the preceding one. Against a rich Indian bowling variety, de Kock did not show any signs of hesitation, did not show any evident sign of weakness. When he walked out, he broke a plethora of records, joined several stars on the elite list, and smashed several critics.
On Sunday, de Kock timed his innings to perfection, starting with high-octane, smashing 22 runs off the first 20 balls before turning a gear to build a partnership after Proteas crisis in the middle. Despite scoring at a strike rate of 110, the left-hander had control of 90%, attacking 60% of the deliveries that came his way.
Post his half-century, his approach was totally controlled – with only 10.2% being false-shots. It was in that phase, where he turned the accelerator on, with two massive hits before he brought up his sixth century against India.
So, when Mark Nicholas uttered that de Kock was one of the ‘finest-ever’ cricketers for South Africa, he wasn’t overestimating. Time and again, de Kock stands out as a fine example of the Protea fire, a fire that never burns out.
