It was the joint-second-longest over ever bowled in T20 international cricket. It came in the 11th over of a nondescript match in the middle of a series between the previous World Cup finalists that are preparing for the next edition. It would prove quite instructive for both teams ahead of the marquee tournament.
After a less-than-impressive spell with the new ball, Arshdeep Singh was brought back into the bowling and immediately saw his full-ish ball, at pace, picked up by Quinton de Kock, fly behind him for six. Seemingly rattled, he then proceeded to bowl seven wides, each of them to de Kock and six of them trying to deny him connection, with the wide-of-off-stump line. Part of it was due to the dew, typical of gripping the white ball under the lights in the colder months in North India, and part of it was due to an onslaught from de Kock that left India’s bowlers scrambling. The returning wrecking ball of South Africa with his phlegmatic face betraying no emotion, had scored 70 of his 90 runs by then, including 6 of his 7 sixes that led to Arshdeep losing his radar.
De Kock’s stunning 46-ball 90 inspired South Africa to a chunky total of 213 for four, and some solid and tight bowling from the Proteas meant it was more than enough; the visitors romping to a 50-run victory to level the series after two games.
But with the innings, he proved just how valuable his presence is for South Africa in the shorter formats. After guiding them to the T20 World Cup final last year, de Kock retired internationally and overturned it quietly. Since then he has struck two hundreds in ODIs. He loves batting in India, with seven hundreds to his name in the 50-over format here. Now with a sixth half century in T20s, he has the most by a visiting player to these shores. In the shortest format, in India his average is shade lower than 50 and strike rate 148. He has cemented his spot for the tournament starting February, and in emphatic fashion too.
Additionally, De Kock’s innings has given India a bit to think about after looking so invincible just a few days ago. The dew does act as a deterrent, but they had batted first and strolled to a 101-run win in Cuttack on Tuesday. For all the useful versatility and X factor that exists in their bowling lineup, when conditions do not go their way, and an opposition batter is putting on a clinic, breakthroughs are tough to buy. India’s bowling lineup and allrounder-heavy strategy is effective, but not totally flawless; Kuldeep Yadav would likely have fared better than the 1/27 and 21 runs from 21 balls put up by Axar Patel.
By the time he departed just 10 runs short of his ton, a meek stumping after a mishit off-side cut, De Kock had played a central role in India’s hammering. From start to finish, the intent was obvious to find all his runs with boundaries, and he plundered seven sixes. Five of them came on the leg-side and two were straight-batted heaves down the ground. It explained his strategy for scoring runs here; playing with a flat bat was likely to be the key with the bowlers missing their lengths so wildly due to dew; very few can time the pick-up flick from the quick full length like De Kock.
The fact that De Kock’s abilities play on the batter’s mind was evident in Arsdheep’s wide-spray. The margin for error is virtually nullified when his run-scoring square, and behind square, of the wicket is so productive. Arshdeep went wicketless for 53, Bumrah fared only marginally better with 45, and Hardik conceded 34 from his three.
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It’s no time to hit the panic button for a team that has won 22 of their last 26 matches since the start of last year. Rather, it’s a timely reality check. It took a top-class innings to manage it.