Did Quinton de Kock Just Equal AB de Villiers’ India Record with His Seventh ODI Hundred?
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Key Takeaways
Visakhapatnam, Dec 6 (NationPress) South African wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock has matched the record held by fellow countryman AB de Villiers for the most centuries by a visiting player in India during the third and final ODI of the series at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Saturday.
Alongside captain Temba Bavuma, de Kock contributed 113 runs for the second wicket partnership and later combined with Matthew Breetzke to put together a 54-run stand, reaching his century off just 80 balls in the 30th over of South Africa's innings.
With this achievement, de Kock now shares the record with de Villiers, each with seven centuries, ahead of West Indies great Chris Gayle, who has hit six centuries in India.
This century also places de Kock level with Sanath Jayasuriya for the most hundreds scored against India in ODIs. De Kock accomplished this feat in a mere 23 innings, compared to Jayasuriya’s 85 innings. Only three other players have managed six ODI centuries against India: AB de Villiers (32 innings), Ricky Ponting (59 innings), and Kumar Sangakkara (71 innings).
Overall, de Kock has now recorded 23 ODI centuries while playing as a designated wicketkeeper. This ties him with Kumar Sangakkara for the highest total of centuries by a wicketkeeper.
In terms of ODI hundreds, de Kock has surpassed David Warner, Sourav Ganguly, and Tillakaratne Dilshan, each of whom has 22 centuries.
Indian bowler Prasidh Krishna dismissed de Kock shortly after he reached his century, when the batter attempted to hit a ball across the line, resulting in the ball hitting the stumps.
Following a 0-2 defeat in the two-Test series, India secured a victory in the first ODI by 17 runs in Ranchi, but South Africa bounced back in the second match in Raipur, successfully chasing a target of over 350 runs to win by four wickets.