World Cup 2023: He batted at the speed of a bullet train for his last 74 runs – Irfan Pathan lauds Quinton de Kock’s century vs Bangladesh

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan hailed Quinton de Kock’s century against Bangladesh at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Tuesday. De Kock scored a magnum opus knock of 174 runs off just 140 balls with the help of 15 fours and seven maximums.

Thus, the left-hander played a key role in helping the Proteas post 382 runs on the board on a belter of a pitch. The southpaw scored his third century of the ongoing World Cup, the most for any South African batter in a single edition of the event, as he continues to impress at the top of the order.

Quinton de Kock completed his 20th ODI century off 101 balls and then scored the remaining 74 runs off just 39 balls as he changed gears like a superfast car.

Irfan Pathan said while talking to Star Sports, “The knock Quinton de Kock played today, he looked extremely quiet at the start. He played slightly cautiously but today was also the first time he hit a six in the powerplay since March 2022.”

The former India all-rounder added: “He took his time to get set and once he got set, he did an amazing job. He scored his century at a strike rate of less than 100 but he batted at the speed of a bullet train for his last 74 runs. He is an extremely dangerous batter who knows this pitch very well and likes the bounce.”

On the other hand, former Indian all-rounder Sanjay Bangar feels de Kock played under the shadow of players like Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis in the past.

“He has scored 20 hundreds in his ODI career. He scores a sequence of hundreds when he plays well. He played in the 2015 and 2019 World Cups as well. He was under Hashim Amla, AB de Villers and Faf du Plessis’ shadows earlier but he has got the spotlight now.”

Bangar lauded the South African wicket-keeper bat for taking Bangladesh bowlers to the cleaners and playing at the top of his game.

“He made the most of that spotlight. Bangladesh didn’t bowl badly against him. They tried to bowl everywhere to him, sometimes to cramp him and away from him on other occasions but the umbrella of sixes he created, he didn’t spare the bowlers anywhere, and that is his specialty.”

South Africa will next take on Pakistan at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Friday.