"He batted at the speed of a bullet train for his last 74 runs" - Irfan Pathan lauds Quinton de Kock's 174-run knock in SA vs BAN World Cup clash

Irfan Pathan has lauded Quinton de Kock for pacing his knock perfectly in South Africa's World Cup 2023 win against Bangladesh.

De Kock scored 174 runs off 140 deliveries as the Proteas set the Bangla Tigers a 383-run target in Mumbai on Tuesday, October 24. The South African bowlers then bundled out Shakib Al Hasan and company for 233 to help their side complete a comprehensive 149-run win and move to second spot in the points table.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Pathan was asked about his thoughts on De Kock's knock, to which he responded:

"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."

Pathan pointed out that the Proteas wicketkeeper-batter has scored his third century and the World Cup is not even halfway through. He added that the southpaw has reached the top of the run-scorers list despite being dismissed cheaply in two of his five innings.

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"He was under Hashim Amla, AB de Villers and Faf du Plessis' shadows earlier" - Sanjay Bangar on Quinton de Kock

Quinton de Kock struck 15 fours and seven sixes during his innings. [P/C: AP]

Sanjay Bangar highlighted that Quinton de Kock has emerged out of Hashim Amla, AB de Villers and Faf du Plessis' shadows. He stated:

"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."

The former India batting coach added that the Bangladesh bowlers were taken to the cleaners despite not bowling badly. He elaborated:

"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."

De Kock was dismissed off the first ball of the 46th over when he seemed headed for a double century. Heinrich Klaasen (90 off 49) and David Miller (34* off 15) then smashed 65 runs in the next 4.1 overs to virtually take the game beyond Bangladesh's reach.