Quinton de Kock smashed a quick hundred in the series decider against India in Visakhapatnam and pushed himself into some elite cricket lists. His knock also gave South Africa early control in a high-pressure match.
De Kock reached his century in only 80 balls. The flow of his innings kept India on the back foot right from the start of the chase.
It was his seventh ODI hundred against India. No other batter has more. He drew level with Sanath Jayasuriya, who also has seven. The big difference is the speed. Jayasuriya took 89 innings to get there while de Kock touched the mark in just 23 ODIs.
This places de Kock and Jayasuriya on top of the all time list for most ODI centuries against India. AB de Villiers, Ricky Ponting and Kumar Sangakkara follow next with six each.
De Kock also matched another famous name. His knock took him to 23 ODI hundreds as a designated wicketkeeper. That equals Sangakkara’s record. The gap in matches is striking. Sangakkara took 360 games as keeper to reach his 23. De Kock did it in his 160th.
He now has centuries as a wicketkeeper in both ODIs and T20Is. Only a handful of white ball players have managed that. Across formats, he is now joint second for most international hundreds by a designated wicketkeeper. He sits behind Adam Gilchrist, who has 33.