Quinton de Kock, representing South Africa in the 2023 World Cup, rediscovered his knack for scoring centuries after a couple of underwhelming performances. His remarkable form saw him clinch his third century of the tournament, thus breaking the World Cup record held by the former South African captain, AB de Villiers.
De Kock now stands as the South African batter with the most centuries in ICC World Cup history. AB de Villiers has a total of four World Cup centuries to his name.
He also joined the elite club of batters who have managed to score three or more hundreds in a single World Cup edition. Previously, this distinguished list included Mark Waugh (1996), Sourav Ganguly (2003), Matthew Hayden (2007), and David Warner (2019), all of whom achieved three centuries in a single World Cup.
Kumar Sangakkara set an even higher benchmark with four centuries in 2015, while Rohit Sharma astoundingly recorded five centuries in the next edition of the quadrennial event, securing his position as second on the list of most centuries in a World Cup, trailing behind Sangakkara.
De Kock’s century against Bangladesh in this World Cup not only solidified his record but also marked him as the first South African batter to score a century against the Bangladesh side in World Cup history. Prior to his incredible feat, the highest individual score by a South African batter against Bangladesh was Jacques Kallis’ 69-run performance in the 2011 edition of the tournament.
De Kock’s scintillating performance in this World Cup extended beyond the realm of centuries. He also surpassed Virat Kohli to become the leading run-scorer in the tournament. Kohli’s impressive record included 354 runs from five innings at an average of 118, comprising one century and three half-centuries.
The inception of De Kock’s World Cup century-scoring spree began with an outstanding display against Sri Lanka in Delhi. He followed up this achievement with a splendid 109-run innings against Australia in Lucknow.
As of writing this, Quinton de Kock scored a magnificent 174 runs in 140 balls with a strike rate of 124. He was finally dismissed by Hasan Mahmud. South Africa have already put a massive score on the board, 337 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in 47 overs.
