South Africa wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock played a superb knock of 90 runs against India in the second T20I of the five-match series. Thanks to this innings, the Proteas went on to post a huge total of 213/4 in 20 overs. The 32-year-old has a brilliant record against the Men in Blue in the shortest format and has now scored over 400 runs against them.
This was de Kock's fifth half-century against India in T20Is and it was also his highest score. He missed out on what would have been his second century in the format by just a whisker and was sent back to the pavilion due to a run-out by Jitesh Sharma in the 16th over. De Kock's explosive inning included five boundaries and seven towering sixes.
De Kock leaves behind 3 players
This knock saw de Kock overtake Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav on an elite list. He has now become the player with the second-most runs in T20Is contested between India and South Africa. He has 441 runs under his name in 13 matches and is only behind his teammate David Miller on the list. Rohit, Virat and Suryakumar are the other names present in the top 5.
Most runs in T20Is between India and South Africa -
1. David Miller (South Africa) - 545 runs
2. Quinton de Kock (South Africa) - 441 runs
3. Rohit Sharma (India) - 429 runs
4. Virat Kohli (India) - 394 runs
5. Suryakumar Yadav (India) - 389 runs
All up to South Africa's bowlers now
This was a much-needed innings for the South African batters, who had been dismantled by India in the first T20I and had gotten bundled out for just 74 runs. De Kock's blistering knock, impactful cameos from the likes of Aiden Markram (29), Donovan Ferreira (30*) and David Miller (20*) saw them hand a massive 214-run target to the Men in Blue. It now remains to be seen if their bowling attack will be able to defend that total.
India's playing XI for 2nd T20I: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma(w), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh.
South Africa's playing XI for 2nd T20I: Reeza Hendricks, Quinton de Kock(w), Aiden Markram(c), Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Donovan Ferreira, George Linde, Marco Jansen, Lutho Sipamla, Lungi Ngidi, Ottneil Baartman.