South African opener Quinton de Kock, who is returning to ODI cricket after retiring, scored a century against Pakistan at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad on Thursday. With this century, De Kock reached the third position for South Africa in terms of scoring centuries in ODIs. He left behind former opener Herschelle Gibbs.
Quinton de Kock played an unbeaten inning of 123 runs hitting 7 sixes and 8 fours in 119 balls against Pakistan on Thursday. This was his 22nd century in ODIs. De Kock left behind Herschelle Gibbs who scored 21 centuries. In front of De Kock are Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers. Amla has scored 27 centuries and De Villiers has scored 25 centuries.
De Kock had said goodbye to the ODI format after the ODI World Cup 2023. But, the next ODI World Cup is to be held in South Africa and perhaps that is why De Kock has made a comeback in ODIs. De Kock’s return to the South African team is going to strengthen its hopes of winning the World Cup. De Kock is not only an excellent wicketkeeper, but is also counted among the top opening batsmen in the world. De Kock has scored 6,956 runs in 157 matches between 2013 and 2025, scoring 22 centuries.
Herschelle Gibbs has been South Africa’s most successful opening batsman. Gibbs scored 8,094 runs with the help of 21 centuries in 240 innings of 248 ODIs. De Villiers scored 9,427 runs in 223 ODIs with the help of 25 centuries and Hashim Amla scored 8,113 runs in 181 ODIs with the help of 27 centuries. De Kock is 32 years old. He can become the batsman who has scored the most centuries for South Africa in ODI cricket.
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