Gqeberha — Quinton de Kock found form when South Africa need him the most.
SA have a big task of beating the Netherlands next week to book a spot at the 50-over World Cup later this year. As a result, new coach Rob Walter said the T20 international series against the West Indies would be used to get player back into form ahead of facing the Dutch.
De Kock, who has struggled to convert his starts into big scores, finally found form when the Proteas need him the most. The talented left-hander scored a maiden T20 international century, off just 43 balls and reminded everyone that he is still one of the best batters in the world.
Standing 22-yards away from him, watching from the opposite end, Reeza Hendricks had the best seat to witness De Kock in full flow.
“That’s the Quinny I know. It was a special innings to witness especially from the other end,” Hendricks told the media after SA’s six-wicket victory against the West Indies in the second T20 on Sunday.
“It doesn’t come off all the time. Today, fortunately for him, it came off when the team needed it most. That’s how he plays. It was one of those days that he found the middle.”
Hendricks himself was at his best. The stylish right-handed batter marked his return to the playing eleven with 68 runs off 22 balls and shared a 152-run partnership with De Kock.
The pair laid the perfect foundation for captain Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen to come, play their natural games and win SA the match. But most importantly, the opening partnership instilled belief in the change-room that they could actually win the match.
Hendricks told the media that the Proteas had no doubts they could chase down an imposing target of 259.
“Everyone in the change-room was quietly confident that this is really a good wicket,” said Hendricks.
“We never doubted ourselves at any stage. We believed we had the batters in the team to go out there and chase the score down, which we did.”
Hendricks and De Kock used the first powerplay to full effect. They put together 102 runs inside the first six over of the chase at Centurion.
Commenting on his partnership with De Kock, Hendricks was lost for words to best describe the feeling of being involved in such a game-changing partnership.
“I don’t think everything has sunk in yet. To be a part of that partnership in that powerplay, we’ll reflect and see what we did. It was special to be a part of,” said Hendricks.
“Going into our batting innings with that total on the board we knew how to go about it, or what was expected. We just went with the flow and capitalised when we could. We never had a total in mind, but to score the runs we did in the first six overs was a bonus.”
SA now have a firing De Kock at the top of the order and also have Hendricks, who if called upon in the Netherlands series, ready for an opportunity in the one-day international team.
IOL Sport