Quinton de Kock, the South African opener, displayed his prowess today as he fearlessly and with a touch of style and elegance, took on Pakistan’s fast bowler Shaheen Afridi.
South Africa got off to an electrifying start in their pursuit of the 271-run target against Pakistan, courtesy of their star opener Quinton de Kock. In the match held in Chennai, the left-handed batsman thrashed four consecutive boundaries off Shaheen Afridi in the very first over.
At the moment, de Kock is the leading run-scorer in the 2023 World Cup, and he exhibited his dominance by punishing Shaheen Afridi with four boundaries, covering both sides of the wicket. Surprisingly, Shaheen did not open the bowling; instead, Babar Azam chose off-spinner Iftikhar Ahmed, who ended up conceding 11 runs.
Shaheen initially aimed full and outside the off-stump in search of swing but found none. De Kock greeted him with a splendid cover drive that raced to the boundary. Then, Shaheen adjusted his length, and the left-hander took a fierce swipe, resulting in an outside edge that flew over the first slip for another four.
The third boundary was yet another delightful cover drive by Quinton de Kock. Shaheen then attempted to correct his line by targeting the stumps, but de Kock comfortably flicked the ball for a fourth consecutive boundary.