South Africa opener and wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock is making sure to make the ICC World Cup 2023 a memorable one for himself and his fans before he retires from ODI cricket after the tournament.
The 30-year-old smashed his 21st ODI hundred against New Zealand in Match 32 at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Wednesday.
He reached triple figures in just 103 balls in the 36th over of the first innings to help the Proteas reach 205 for 1 after they were put into bat by the Black Caps.
Quinny flying high in CWC 2023
De Kock scored his fourth hundred of this World Cup to match former Sri Lanka wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara's record of 4 tons in a single edition of the tournament which he had achieved in 2015.
De Kock scored centuries against Sri Lanka, Australia, Bangladesh and New Zealand in CWC 2023.
Four years later, India opener Rohit Sharma set the all-time record with five hundreds in the 2019 World Cup in England.
Records galore for QDK
De Kock is now joint-third along with former opener Herschelle Gibbs on the list of most ODI tons for South Africa. Hasim Amla leads with 27 hundreds, followed by AB de Villiers (25), de Kock (21), Gibbs (21) and Jacques Kallis (17).
De Kock also became the first batter in this World Cup to cross the 500-run mark. He leads the pack with 545 runs from 7 ODIs at an average of 77.85 with four hundreds and a highest score of 174.
His tally the highest by any batter after the first 7 innings of a World Cup. He is also the first South African to score 500 runs in a single World Cup.
De Kock was eventually dismissed by Tim Southee for 114 off 116 balls which included 10 fours and 3 towering sixes.
