Quinton de Kock responded in fine fashion after being dismissed cheaply in his Indian Premier League (IPL) opener for the Kolkata Knight Riders to lead his side to victory against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Wednesday.
De Kock was back to his attacking best with a masterful innings of 97 unbeaten from 61 balls, smashing eight fours and six sixes.
Chasing a moderate victory total of 152 set by RR, De Kock opened the innings alongside Moeen Ali. Though Ali was out for five, De Kock anchored the innings as his side only lost one more wicket as they chased down the score in 17.3 overs.
The 32-year-old had been struggling for form coming into the IPL as he struggled in the SA20 as he averaged 19.8 for the Durban Super Giants in 10 matches with a highest score of 55.
Quinton de Kock’s battle for form in IPL and SA20
His previous season in the SA20 was about the same as he averaged 19.3 from 12 games.
In the 2024 IPL, De Kock was in his third season with the Lucknow Super Giants and made just 250 runs from 11 games. Though he had a highest score of 81, his average again was around the 20 mark with his return of 22.7.
The former Proteas prodigy De Kock announced his shock retirement from Test cricket in 2021 at the age of 29. He would go on to call it quits from One-Day International cricket after the 2023 Cricket World Cup.
While he is still available for the Proteas in T20 Internationals, his form, which has become noticeably more inconsistent, and he has already not featured for South Africa since the ill-fated T20 World Cup final against India in June last year.
The left-handed batsman also no longer has a national contract, but he has not announced his retirement from the format at international level. However, it seems he may not need to as he may not even be considered in the future unless he keeps performing like he did on Wednesday.
@Michael_Sherman
IOL Sport
