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South Africa’s Quinton de Kock got back to his century-scoring spree in World Cup 2023 after two low scores. De Kock hit his third century of the tournament to break former South Africa captain AB de Villiers’ World Cup record. De Kock now holds the record for most centuries in a World Cup by a South African batter.
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De Villiers has a total of four centuries in World Cups. He has also become the seventh batter to score three or more hundreds in a single World Cup edition. Mark Waugh (1996), Sourav Ganguly (2003), Matthew Hayden (2007), and David Warner (2019) have scored three centuries in a single World Cup. Kumar Sangakkara scored four centuries in 2015 whereas Rohit Sharma scored five centuries in the previous edition of the quadrennial event. He is second on the list of most centuries in a World Cup below Sangakkara.
De Kock is also the first South African batter to score a century against Bangladesh in World Cups. Before him, the highest score by a South Africa batter against the Bangladesh side was Jacques Kallis' 69-run knock in the 2011 edition.
The wicketkeeper-batter also surpassed Virat Kohli to become the leading run-scorer in the tournament. Kohli has scored 354 runs from five innings at an average of 118 including one century and three half-centuries.
His first World Cup century came against Sri Lanka in Delhi. He followed it up with a 109-run knock against Australia in Lucknow.
South Africa's stand-in skipper Aiden Markram won the toss and opted to bat first at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. The southpaw adopted the attacking approach from the start despite Reeza Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen departing early. He reached his half-century from 47 balls. He slowed down a little in the middle overs. In the 35th over, he completed his century from 101 balls.
This was also his fifth ODI hundred on Indian soil. He threw caution to the wind after reaching the milestone. He hit Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan for a couple of fours and sixes to reach his maiden World Cup 150 from 129 balls. He scored 174 runs from 140 balls including 15 fours and seven sixes. He lost his wicket to Hasan Mahmud. It is the second-highest score by a South Africa batter in World Cups. Gary Kirsten's unbeaten 188 against UAE in the 1996 World Cup remains unbroken.
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