Quinton de Kock’s brilliant century guided South Africa to a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Pakistan in the 2nd ODI held in Faisalabad on Thursday, November 6. The win helped South Africa level the three-match ODI series at 1-1. Chasing a target of 270 runs, the Proteas made light work of it with 59 balls to spare, thanks to a massive second-wicket partnership between de Kock and Tony de Zorzi.
Quinton de Kock shines for South Africa
South Africa started cautiously with de Kock and Lhuan-dre Pretorius. The duo added 81 runs for the opening wicket before Mohammad Wasim Jr struck in the 12th over. De Zorzi then joined de Kock and they shared a mammoth partnership of 153 runs that completely flattened Pakistan’s bowling attack.
De Kock, who was dropped by Mohammad Nawaz at deep square leg in the 10th over, made Pakistan pay for their mistake. He paced his innings to perfection, scoring his 22nd ODI hundred off 96 balls with eight fours and seven sixes. He ended up scoring 123* runs from 119 balls, hitting 7 sixes and 8 fours.
3rd-most centuries for South Africa in ODIs
With his 22nd ODI hundred, de Kock moved 3rd in terms of most centuries for the Proteas in ODIs. The southpaw went past former South African ace Herschelle Gibbs, who hit 21 centuries in his career.
De Kock owns 22 centuries from 157 ODIs with 6956 runs under his belt (50s: 31). On the other hand, Gibbs finished with 8094 runs from 248 ODIs (240 innings). Besides his 21 tons, he hit 37 fifties.
Amla and de Villiers lead the list
Former South African stalwarts Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers own the most hundreds for the side. Amla hit 27 ODI tons from 181 matches with 8113 runs at 49.46. He also hit 39 fifties.
On the other hand, de Villiers owns the 2nd-most tons. He hit 25 tons from 223 matches. ABD scored 9427 runs for South Africa in ODIs at 54.57. He also smashed 52 fifties.
Most 100s for South Africa in Men’s ODIs:
- 27 – Hashim Amla
- 25 – AB de Villiers
- 22 – Quinton de Kock
- 21 – Herschelle Gibbs
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