World Cup 2023: Quinton de Kock equals Kumar Sangakkara’s feat during New Zealand-South Africa fixture in Pune

South Africa wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock is on a roll in his final ODI assignment, slamming his fourth century in the ongoing ICC World Cup against New Zealand on Wednesday.

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De Kock not only laid the foundation for a sizeable first innings total for the Proteas with his latest three-figure knock, but also equalled Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara’s feat of four centuries in a single edition of cricket’s showpiece event.

The Proteas opener brought up the milestone with a six off Black Caps all-rounder James Neesham in the final delivery of the 36th over, consuming 103 balls along the way. De Kock had earlier struck back-to-back hundreds in South Africa’s first two fixtures of the tournament, against Sri Lanka and Australia respectively, and would later smash a 140-ball 174 against Bangladesh in Mumbai.

Sangakkara had struck four centuries in the 2015 edition of the tournament in which Sri Lanka went as far as the quarter-finals before suffering a knockout blow at the hands of South Africa.

Only India skipper Rohit Sharma has scored more centuries in a single edition of the ICC World Cup, having collected five of them in the 2019 edition. De Kock and Sangakkara, however, share the record for most centuries by a keeper in a single edition.

Both Sangakkara and Rohit had topped the run-charts in the 2015 and 2019 editions respectively, and de Kock finds himself well ahead of the rest in the ongoing tournament.

De Kock was eventually dismissed for 114 at nearly run-a-ball (116 deliveries) off Tim Southee’s bowling and his current run tally in the World Cup stands at 545 — 132 more than the second-placed David Warner.

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De Kock’s 174 against Bangladesh is also the highest individual score in the ongoing World Cup.

4:

A 4️⃣th century for Quinton de Kock in this #CWC23

We are running out of superlatives #NZvSA #CWC23 #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/aMKiya8FAr

— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) November 1, 2023

De Kock’s latest century is his 21st in ODIs, taking him level with former opener Herschelle Gibbs. Only Hashim Amla (27) and AB de Villiers (25) have scored more ODI centuries.

Besides de Kock, South African No 3 Rassie van der Dussen would also go on to bring up his century, bringing up the milestone with a four — also off Neesham’s bowling — and consuming 101 deliveries along the way.

The two put South Africa in the driver’s seat with a 200-run second-wicket partnership, South Africa’s highest for any wicket against New Zealand in ICC World Cups. New Zealand pacer Trent Boult had earlier dismissed Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma for 24 with 38 on the board.

New Zealand stand-in skipper Tom Latham had earlier opted to bat at Pune’s Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.