Intro
Quinton de Kock marks milestone with stunning hundred, sealing dominant series victory
Centurion
Quinton de Kock celebrated his landmark 100th Twenty20 International in memorable fashion, smashing a breathtaking century to lead South Africa to a seven-wicket win over the West Indies and clinch the series 2-0.
Chasing a daunting 222, South Africa showed no nerves as de Kock produced a career-best 115 off just 49 balls, turning a stiff target into a one-sided contest. The left-hander, using a borrowed bat from Dewald Brevis, struck the ball with supreme confidence, peppering the stands with 10 sixes and six boundaries in a knock that thrilled the Centurion crowd.
De Kock found strong support from fellow left-hander Ryan Rickelton, who played a brilliant supporting role before finishing the chase with a career-best 77 not out off 36 deliveries. The duo added 162 runs in just 11.5 overs, scoring at a blistering rate of nearly 12 runs per over to leave the West Indies attack helpless.
South Africa captain Aiden Markram praised the pair, calling de Kock’s innings “special to watch” while noting Rickelton’s consistency in closing out games. The Proteas cruised to 225-3 with 15 balls to spare, underlining their dominance.
Earlier, the West Indies had posted an imposing 221-4, built around fluent knocks from Shimron Hetmyer, who scored 75, and Sherfane Rutherford, who remained unbeaten on 57. Keshav Maharaj was the standout South African bowler with figures of 2-22, a spell Markram later said prevented the chase from becoming even steeper.
The victory ended South Africa’s run of five consecutive bilateral T20 series defeats and handed coach Shukri Conrad his first series win in the format. With one match remaining before both sides head into the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, South Africa will take confidence from a performance powered by one of their modern greats.
