With the idea of hitting it for six, Quinton de Kock
lap-pulled Josh Hazlewood’s length delivery to fine-leg. However, he hadn’t
quite secured it as well as he had hoped, and the ball sailed towards the
boundary at a roughly catchable range. Mitchell Marsh pounced from deep
square-leg and then had to reposition himself. De Kock exhaled slowly. Marsh
collapsed. And the ball crossed the goal line.
A hitter who got away with something similar in an
earlier age of South African cricket would retire the stroke for the remainder
of the innings and, if they were really concerned about it, practise it in the
nets before bringing it out again. De Kock played the same stroke off the next
ball while Hazlewood was returning to his mark during the match against
Australia. This time, Marsh didn’t even try to catch it as Hazlewood went a
little shorter, de Kock got more bat on it, and he got more bat on it. It was a
sure six, and de Kock was able to demonstrate his improved batting strategy
over the course of the year.
The different strategies used by South Africa’s
batsmen in their first two World Cup matches are an excellent illustration of
what de Kock said.
The best part of their performance against Sri Lanka
in Delhi, where the straight boundaries were short, was one of Aiden Markram’s
drives. De Kock was the player who best demonstrated the cut, the slice, the
sweep, the reverse-sweep, and the variations of the draw in Lucknow where the
square borders were shorter.
Given that this is de Kock’s final ODI series, his
dominance also explains how and why South Africa’s batting has become such a
topic of discussion. He’s reserved his best for it, so maybe it shouldn’t be a
surprise that he showcased the best of it in Lucknow.
De Kock’s 106-ball 109, which talks to how South
Africa wants to approach their batting and is more sophisticated than just
power-hitting, contained only five sixes but also eight fours, 37 singles, and
five twos.
Experience – in India and of the opposition – is one
of the things that South Africa thought would give them the edge at this World
Cup. So far, and it is still early in the tournament, they are proving
themselves right. But they know it’s way too soon to think any further than
that.