Quinton de Kock’s IPL had been hit-and-miss till before last night. Erratic with the bat the South African has been an underwhelming presence in IPL 2022. However, it would all come together in a scintillating ton in last night’s encounter with Kolkata Knight Riders. Taking a shine to the bowling, de Kock and opening partner KL Rahul would dazzle under the Navi Mumbai lights, putting together an unbeaten stand of 210 in 20 overs, breaking multiple IPL records in the process. Dropped by Abhishekh Tomar and Sam Billings, the southpaw would capitalize heavily. An unbeaten 140 full of verve, his innings were pivotal to Lucknow Super Giants’ close win.

On bringing up his ton, he would celebrate wildly. Spitting a volley of ‘C’mons!’ while punching his bat before sinking to his knees in relief. Speaking in the post-match presentation, he shared his thoughts on the celebration:

“I was a little bit cooked (after his innings) but it was a matter of getting some refreshments and get on with it I guess. It was a bit of frustration that came out (on his aggressive century celebrations). Felt really good to come out and do well. Was trying to keep it in, but when it came out, felt good,” said De Kock in the post-match presentation.”

KKR would push LSG close, losing out narrowly in the final over. With 21 required off the 20th over Rinku Singh blazed 18 runs off Stoinis’ first four balls, bringing them to within three runs of a win. He would eventually hold out a catch to Evin Lewis. When asked if he’d expected the game to be so close, he answered, “To be honest, not really. Obviously, they played really well, assessed conditions well and came hard at us. I thought he (Stoinis) would defend it easily. But when the first three went, I thought the game was done for us. But that catch turned things for us. As they say, good catches win matches. ”

With a place in the eliminators assured, LSG will be hoping that this century sparks a rich vein of form for the star batsman.