Quinton de Kock’s magnificent 174 and a brutal 49-ball 90 from Heinrich Klaasen underlined South Africa’s batting prowess as they ended with a mammoth 382/5 against Bangladesh in a World Cup game here on Tuesday.
De Kock pumped 15 fours and seven sixes to not only record his third century in five innings, but his 140-ball knock which witnessed a fantastic late acceleration, also had the opener record the ninth-highest individual score in the tournament’s history.
Even though he was not required to do the heavy lifting after a stunning ton against England, a two-day break had Klaasen back at his best — cracking eight huge sixes and two fours — for his quickfire effort.
In his 150th ODI, de Kock flayed the Bangladesh bowlers in hot and humid conditions to bat almost through the end but certainly missed an opportunity to become the first South African to record an ODI double ton.
Nevertheless, de Kock was particularly striking with quick hands and compelling footwork after a slowish start, as the ‘keeper-batter unleashed some spectacular hits all around the park.
En route, his 20th ODI ton, de Kock went past India’s Virat Kohli for the most runs and also eclipsed Australia’s David Warner (163) to record the highest individual score in this World Cup.
And as has been the case a few times in the recent past, South Africa went ballistic in the last 10 overs to add another 144 runs with David Miller making an unbeaten 15-ball 34.
With Shakib Al Hasan back, there was a visible change in Bangladesh’s approach with spin being introduced with the new ball from the second over whereas, after the powerplay, close-in fielders at unorthodox spots ensured the flow of runs was in check.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s tidy start had him finding an outside edge off Reeza Hendricks’ (12) bat in the second over but Tanzid Hasan could not grab the opportunity.
Quinton de Kock smashes records with 174
But Bangladesh did not have to wait for long. After squaring up de Kock just outside the off-stump with a jaffa, Shoriful got one to sneak through the defence of Hendricks in the seventh over for the first breakthrough.
The second wicket followed soon in the next over as Mehidy trapped Rassie van der Dussen (1) in front of the wickets. To their credit, Bangladesh bowlers did well to keep the scoring rate in check in the powerplay (44/2).
But de Kock led South Africa's recovery with Markram in tow. With Shakib opting for a full-fledged spin attack in the middle overs, South African batters found accelerating a little difficult with close-in fielders in place.
However, to their credit, South African batters did not miss any opportunity to pick up the odd boundary.
Markram batted fluently for his 67-ball 60, using his hands adroitly to produce seven boundaries but an inside-out lofted hit found Das at long-on in the 31st over off Shakib, with the third wicket stand producing 131 runs for the Proteas.
The fourth-wicket stand was even bigger and better — 142 runs off just 87 balls between de Kock and Klaasen — as Bangladesh were left with a mountain to climb.
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