CENTURION: Wicketkeeper batter Quinton de Kock’s quickfire century powered South Africa to chase down a record 259 with seven balls to spare in the second T20I of the three-match series against West Indies here on Sunday.
To stay alive in the three-match series, South Africa had a mountain to climb in the second T20I here at SuperSport Park as the hosts needed to pull off the highest-ever run chase and they eventually did so with seven balls to spare at the back of a scintillating knock by de Kock.
In pursuit of 259, Proteas’ openers de Kock and Reeza Hendricks gave their side a flying start as they straight away charged on the West Indian bowlers; raising 152 runs inside 11 overs.
Wicketkeeper batter de Kock was the core aggressor of the astonishing opening partnership as he smacked a quickfire 43-ball century but fell soon after amassing his maiden ton.
The left-handed batter top-scored for South Africa with 100 in just 44 balls, laced up with nine boundaries and eight sixes.
The hapless West Indian bowlers then found a couple of cherishing moments in the run chase when they got two breakthroughs in as many consecutive overs as Rossouw (16 off four) and Hendricks fell.
Opening batter Hendricks remained the notable run-getter for South Africa in the record run chase as the right-handed batter scored a 28-ball 68, hitting 11 boundaries and two sixes.
Experienced hard-hitting batter David Miller then partnered briefly with skipper Aiden Markram before the former perished after a run-a-ball 10.
Markram then joined hands with Henrich Klaasen and sealed the deal for South Africa with an unbeaten 43-run partnership. Markram scored 38 not out off just 21 deliveries, while Klaasen remained unbeaten on 16.
For West Indies, Rovman Powell, Raymon Reifer, Odean Smith and Jason Holder struck out a batter each.
Batting first, West Indies also punished South African bowlers to pile a massive total of 258/5 in 20 overs, thanks to a 39-ball century by Johnson Charles.
Earlier, the visitors had a dismal start to their innings as Wayne Parnell dismissed Brandon King (1) for a combined total of mere two runs in the first over.
Following the early setback, Charles and Kyle Mayers scripted an astounding recovery for their side and turned the tables on South Africa with a brisk 135-run partnership for the second wicket.
The pair charged on South African bowlers and conceded only 58 deliveries before Marco Jansen finally removed Mayers, who scored 51 off 27 deliveries, hitting five boundaries and four sixes.
Jansen then struck again in the same over to send Nicholas Pooran (2) packing and West Indies, consequently, slipped to 139/3 in the 11th over.
Meanwhile, Charles continued his baton charge on the Proteas’ bowlers and soon brought up his quickfire 39-ball century.
Charles top-scored for West Indies with his scintillating 118 off just 46 deliveries with the help of 10 boundaries and 11 sixes before falling to Jansen in the 14th over.
Following Charles’ dismissal, skipper Rovman Powell (28) and Romario Shepherd (41*) made sure that the West Indies pile up a massive total on the board.
Jansen led the bowling attack for South Africa with 3/52 while Parnell followed up 2/43.
