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Cape Town - On day two of the second Test in Wellington, Proteas wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock put all notion aside that he cannot handle Black Caps spinner Jeetan Patel.
De Kock was silenced in the past three games by New Zealand's off-spinner Patel.
Patel, who played the final two ODIs as well as the first Test in Dunedin, dismissed De Kock in each of his last four innings.
De Kock amassed meagre scores of 0, 6, 4 and 10.
The South African was placed under scrutiny leading up to the second Test, with some of the press dubbing the 24-year-old as 'Jeet's Bunny'.
However, De Kock had his bat do the talking on day two of the second Test and put the Proteas on top with an innings of 91 off 118 balls (10 fours, 3 sixes) at the Basin Reserve.
De Kock, who shared a 160-run seventh wicket partnership with Temba Bavuma (89), said that he was not at all surprised or intimated when the Black Caps decided to bowl Patel when he walked out to the middle.
"I knew straight away that when I was going to bat that they're going to bring out Jeetan - I knew it was happening," De Kock told reporters in Wellington on Friday.
"I was looking forward to it. To have the battle again, which was quite nice.
"I've played against so many 'offies' in my life. I know Jeetan's a good bowler and he does have me four out of four times.
"I knew I could still get on top of him if I put my head down and it happened today.
"It's just nice to finally get one over him."
Vernon Philander (38*) and Morne Morkel (31*) will resume for the Proteas on day three with a lead of 81 runs (00:00 SA time).
