Centurion, March 27 (IANS) South Africa opener Reeza Hendricks said he had the best seat in the stadium to witness wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock smash a 44-ball century in the hosts’ chasing down a record 259 against the West Indies.
In a run-fest on Sunday, de Kock smashed his maiden T20I century in the chase for South Africa in a blistering 152-run opening partnership with Hendricks in just 10.5 overs to set the base for South Africa completing the highest ever successful run chase in T20Is with seven balls to spare.
In South Africa facing the record chase with six wickets in hand, de Kock made 100 off 44 balls, hitting nine fours and eight sixes at a strike-rate of 227.27, for the hosts’ to level the three-game series at 1-1.
“That’s the Quinny (de Kock) I know. It was a special innings to witness especially from the other end. It doesn’t come off all the time. Fortunately for him, it came off when the team needed it most. The wicket allowed for his stroke play and it was one of those days that he found the middle,” said Hendricks after the game.
Hendricks, the right-handed batter, supported de Kock very well in the 152-run opening partnership by hitting 68 runs off 22 balls, including 11 fours and two sixes, at a strike-rate of 242.86, in what was his fifth T20I fifty.
“We never doubted ourselves at any stage. We believed we had the batters in the team to go out and chase the score so guys were quietly confident,” he revealed about the team’s mindset at the half-way point of the match.
Hendricks signed off by saying it will take time for the feeling of chasing 259 in a T20I match to sink in. “I don’t think everything has sunk in yet. To be a part of that partnership in that powerplay, we’ll reflect and see what we did. It was special to be a part of.”
“Going into our batting innings with that total on the board we knew how to go about it, or what was expected. We just went with the flow and capitalised when we could. We never had a total in mind, but to score the runs we did in the first six overs was a bonus.”
–IANS
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