Quinton de Kock Falls Marginally Short Off Breaking MS Dhoni's 17-Year-Old Record
Quinton de Kock in action against Bangladesh at the 2023 World Cup (x.com)
Quinton de Kock blazed through Bangladesh’s bowling attack with a thunderous 174-run knock in Mumbai at the 2023 World Cup. The cricketer smacked 15 boundaries and seven towering sixes in his innings to lead South Africa’s recovery from 36-2 to a colossal 382-5 from their 50 overs.
The dashing opener shattered several batting records through the course of his knock. For starters, he posted the highest-ever individual score for a wicketkeeper-batter at a World Cup, surpassing Adam Gilchrist’s 149 from the 2007 final. The 30-year-old also became the youngest South African batter to race to 20 ODI centuries, eclipsing former captain AB de Villiers by a mere couple of months.
However, a certain world record remains unscathed, one crafted by former Indian captain MS Dhoni during a Jaipur ODI against Sri Lanka nearly 18 years before Quinton de Kock’s Mumbai epic.
QDK falls short of MS Dhoni’s world record
Quinton de Kock stamped a counterattacking 174 against Bangladesh to register his 20th ODI ton and the second-highest score of his glittering 50-over international career. The 178 punches he threw at Australia during a 2016 Centurion ODI continue to remain his best ODI performance with the bat.
Notably, his two best batting efforts also feature among the top four list of highest runs recorded by a designated wicketkeeper in a single ODI innings.
His 178 stood just behind former Indian captain MS Dhoni’s 183* from a 2005 Jaipur ODI, i.e., within the first year of the latter’s international debut. Bangladesh-based Litton Das, who smacked 176 against Zimbabwe in a 43-over match in 2020 is placed third on the celebrated list, while Quinton de Kock’s 174 from the 2023 World Cup found its way to top four.
Top five highest ODI scores by a designated wicketkeeper:
| MS Dhoni | 183* vs SL | 2005 |
|---|---|---|
| Quinton de Kock | 178 vs AUS | 2016 |
| Litton Das | 176 vs ZIM | 2020 |
| Quinton de Kock | 174 vs BAN | 2023 |
| Jaskaran Malhotra | 173* vs PNG | 2021 |
De Kock’s innings against Bangladesh also marked his third century of the 2023 World Cup. His latest string of three World Cup tons is also his only set of triple-figure batting performances across all World Cup appearances, considering he spent the 2015 and 2019 editions without a century to his name.
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