In the third match of the ongoing ODI series between India and South Africa, South African opener Quinton de Kock attracted everyone’s attention by scoring a brilliant century. He was not able to leave a mark on his game in the first two matches, but in the decisive match being played in Visakhapatnam, he demonstrated his experience and class very well.
De Kock’s century in 80 balls
De Kock put pressure on the Indian bowlers by completing his century in just 80 balls. De Kock’s record against India has always been impressive. He added another century against Team India in ODI cricket, taking this number to seven. The special thing is that whenever he makes a good start against India, he often converts it into a big score. According to statistics, so far he has scored more than fifty nine times against India, out of which he has reached three figures seven times.
With this brilliant century, De Kock also took the long standing world record of Sri Lanka’s legendary opening batsman Sanath Jayasuriya. The record of most centuries in ODIs against India was earlier in the name of Jayasuriya, who had scored seven centuries in 85 innings. But De Kock broke this record by scoring seven centuries in just 24 innings and achieved a new achievement.
Nandre Berger and Tony DeGeorge are out with injuries.
In this match, Indian captain KL Rahul won the toss and decided to bowl first. With this decision, India also ended the bitter series of losing the toss 20 consecutive times in ODI cricket. One change was made in the Indian team, where young batsman Tilak Verma was included in the playing eleven in place of Washington Sundar. On the other hand, South Africa was also forced to make two changes. Nandre Berger and Tony DeGeorge were out due to injury, after which Ryan Rakleton and Otniel Bartman were given a chance in the team.
This three-match series was tied at 1-1 before this match. India won by 17 runs in the first ODI played in Ranchi, while South Africa made a comeback by four wickets in the second match played in Raipur. Therefore, the third match became decisive for both the teams and in this background this century of De Kock became even more important.
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