“De Kock!” “De Kock!” “De Kock!”
These were the chants that reverberated through the stands at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Not since the legendary AB de Villiers has a South African batter received such an ovation on foreign lands. And Quinton de Kock was deserving of every bit of it.
De Kock bettered De Villiers’ masterful unbeaten 162 against the West Indies at the 2015 World Cup on Tuesday, and was on target to surpass Gary Kirsten’s World Cup record of 188 not out all those years ago back in 1996, but ultimately departed for a vintage 174 off 140 balls (15x4, 7x6).
Along with another swashbuckling 49-ball 90 that included eight monstrous sixes from Heinrich Klaasen, and stand-in skipper Aiden Markram’s 60, South Africa simply packed too much power for Bangladesh with the Proteas cruising to a fourth Cricket World Cup victory by 149 runs.
South Africans were always going to miss De Kock after the 30-year-old maverick announced his ODI retirement prior to the start of this World Cup. But the way De Kock is going here in India — he’s now struck three centuries in five innings — there may be cause for Sports Minister Zizi Kodwa to intervene in an attempt to persuade the star batter to reverse his decision, particularly with South Africa set to stage a home World Cup in 2027.
But that’s a conversation for another day. Right now, the prospect of retirement is fuelling De Kock’s desire to leave the international stage on the highest podium.
Previously guilty of not placing a high enough price on his wicket, De Kock’s scalp is now worth a king’s ransom at this World Cup. He is the tournament’s leading run-scorer (407 runs at an average of 81.40), has the most centuries (3) and only behind Rohit Sharma for striking the most sixes (15).
The beauty of it all has been in its compilation. De Kock has been prepared to give himself time to assess the conditions, affording the new-ball bowlers’ respect, before working his way into his innings and then only unleashing all degrees of hell.
It could not have been more perfectly illustrated with his first 50 coming off 47 balls, the second a further 54 deliveries, before the third in just 28 balls. It was also evident in the 131-run partnership off 137 balls with Markram that precluded the rapid 142 off only 87 balls in tandem with Klaasen.
De Kock is also currently operating in that optimum space that when well set, he is targeting the opposition’s best bowler.
Last night, he locked on to Shakib-al-Hasan. The left-arm spinner is a wily campaigner, particularly in subcontinent conditions, but even he had no answer to De Kock’s flowing blade.
It was the 43rd over of the innings, and De Kock simply launched into Shakib with a pure swing of the bat that sent the ball sailing into the stands over long-off, followed by a slog-sweep for four.
But that was only the beginning of the carnage. The next ball was drilled over square-leg for another six that also brought up De Kock’s 150, before a further smeared cover drive that dented the boundary boards.
There was almost a sense of disbelief in the stands when De Kock was eventually dismissed, smoking a square drive off a Hasan Mahmud full toss, but unfortunately straight to Nasum Ahmed at deep point.
But such is South Africa’s batting muscle at the moment, De Kock’s demise did not even see a change in gears. In fact, the pedal was pushed down even harder with Klaasen and David Miller (35* off 14 balls) sharing a 65-run partnership off only 25 balls that once again saw South Africa bash 144 runs in the final 10 overs.
Just like England before them a couple of days ago, Bangladesh’s batters were simply too traumatised from watching the ball sail over their heads to offer up any form of challenge in the run chase.
Mahmudullah played a lone hand with a valiant 111 but it was all inconsequential after Marco Jansen struck twice in the Powerplay, and along with the incoming Lizaad Williams, who was playing his first game at this World Cup due to Lungi Ngidi suffering from a mild knee niggle, also joining the party with the big wicket of Shakib, it was merely fait accompli from thereon as the Proteas took a further giant step towards semi-final qualification.
Scorecard
South Africa: 382/5 (De Kock 174, Klaasen 90, Markram 60, Mahmud 2/67)
Bangladesh: 233 all out (Mahmudullah 111, Coetzee 3/62, Jansen 2/39, Williams 2/56)
South Africa won by 149 runs
IOL Sport