14th cricketer to do so, wicket-keeper batter Quinton de Kock has become only the second South African cricketer after former captain AB de Villiers to have scored consecutive centuries in the history of ICC Cricket World Cups. Co-incidentally, both the players achieved this milestone in India.
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Playing his third and last World Cup, there wouldn’t have been a better manner for de Kock to start a global campaign. The fact that de Kock averaged only 30 on the back of scoring 450 runs across 17 innings in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 is a testament of how he never fulfilled his potential in ODI World Cups in the past.
That said, de Kock scoring 209 runs at an average and strike rate of 104.50 and 110 respectively in this tournament has made him the first batter to cross the 200-run mark.
Quinton de Kock Becomes 2nd South African Batter To Score Consecutive World Cup Centuries
de Kock, who hit eight fours and five sixes at a strike rate of 102.83, hit all his sixes against the Australian pace trio. The 30-year old player put on display the first instance of a batter bringing up consecutive centuries in 2023 World Cup. Having done the same in the first two matches itself, he would undoubtedly be looking to finish his ODI career with a record-breaking performance.
Readers must note that this is not for the first time when de Kock has scored centuries in two ODIs in a row. Hit within a seven-day period, de Kock’s second, third and fourth ODI tons had also come in successive matches a decade ago.
A stupendous effort which had come in a three-match ODI series against India at home, it had played an instrumental role in making the then 21-year old player the most expensive overseas wicket-keeper batter during IPL 2014 auction.
Known for his hard-hitting batting skills, the left-handed batter smashed a 90-ball hundred in the 30th over at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium today. In what was his 19th century (all as an opener) in the format, it was also his sixth in Asia, fourth in India and under captain Temba Bavuma and third against Australia.
Before Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers Had Scored Back-To-Back World Cup Hundreds
de Villiers, one of the three South African cricketers to have scored more ODI hundreds than de Kock, was the first Proteas cricketer to have accomplished this feat.
In addition to the two of them doing it in the same country, the first of their two centuries had also come in New Delhi. For the unversed, it was during ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 that the Royal Challengers Bangalore legend had scored back-to-back centuries.
In what was his 10th ODI century, it had come against West Indies in February 2011. The following month, de Villiers was able to touch the three-figure mark for the 11th time in the format against Netherlands in Mohali. Much like de Villiers, both de Kock’s tons are also highly likely to generate victories for the team.
Furthermore, if de Kock was the fifth cricketer to register three successive ODI centuries, de Villiers was only the fourth one. Having said that, unlike the former, the latter’s centuries had come away from home (two in India and one in West Indies) in 2010.
