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Cape Town – Budding Proteas batsman Quinton de Kock, making fine strides in Tests and limited-overs internationals alike, has joined an elite statistical club featuring West Indies legend Sir Vivian Richards.
By scoring 38 against Zimbabwe in the second one-day international at Bulawayo on Tuesday, the left-hander from the Lions became the fourth player in history to reach 1 000 ODI runs in only 21 innings.
Richards completed the feat against England in Sydney in 1980, and the other two batsmen to have got there in as few knocks are South African-born England stars Jonathan Trott (against Ireland, Bangalore, 2011) and Kevin Pietersen (against India, Faridabad, 2006).
Of the quartet, De Kock is third fastest in time taken to get there since debut, having needed one year and 212 days to get to 1 000, behind only current outcast from England’s plans Pietersen (one year and 123 days) and health-related absentee Trott (one year and 187 days).
But he is now the youngest South African to achieve the landmark, at 21 and 245 days, eclipsing the recently-retired Jacques Kallis (22 years and 94 days, in 1998).
Before De Kock’s arrival at the four-figure landmark on Tuesday, Hashim Amla held the record for swiftest Proteas player to 1 000 runs, doing it in 24 innings, whilst Peter Kirsten and Graeme Smith both reached the milestone in 28.
There are four SA-born cricketers among the top six in the world now for fastest in innings terms to 1,000, given that Port Elizabeth-born Ryan ten Doeschate of The Netherlands reached the figure in 23 knocks.
De Kock has smashed five centuries en route to his 1 000, including three in a row against India on our soil last season.
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