ICC World Cup 2019: De Kock’s extraordinary catch shocks Kohli, denies him world record -WATCH
De Kock flew to his right, stretched as far as he could to pluck that one out of thin air. No wonder, Kohli had a surprised look in his face. He was first done in the by the extra bounce of Phehlukwayo and then shocked by a stunner from de Kock.
cricket Updated: Jun 06, 2019 10:50 ISTQuinton de Kock’s keeping was the lone silver lining in South Africa’s dismal day in the field during their third ICC World Cup 2019 match against India at Southampton on Wednesday. De Kock took a brilliant one-handed catch, which could give tough competition to Ben Stokes for the catch of the tournament, behind the stumps to send India back captain Virat Kohli.
After batting through testing spells from South Africa new-ball bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Chris Morris, Kohli tried to garner easy runs off Andile Phehlukwayo but his tactics backfired.
In the 16th over of the Indian innings, Phehlukwayo got one to jump off the length, catching Kohli off guard. The India captain was loose outside the off stump and the ball took the outside the edge of his bat. But like most cases on Wednesday, that edge too appeared to be landing safely in between the keeper and second slip. But de Kock had other ideas.
De Kock flew to his right, stretched as far as he could to pluck that one out of thin air. No wonder, Kohli had a surprised look in his face. He was first done in the by the extra bounce of Phehlukwayo and then shocked by a stunner from de Kock.
See Quinton de Kock's wonder catch from every angle 👀 https://t.co/xvw8eToBdq
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) June 5, 2019
The India captain took the long walk back for 18.
Apart from bringing South Africa back in the game, de Kock’s blinder also denied Kohli a unique World Record. Kohli had a chance of becoming the only cricketer to score hundreds in his team’s first match of three back to back World Cups.
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Kohli had scored centuries against Bangladesh in 2011 World Cup and against Pakistan in 2015 World Cup. Both were India’s first matches.
That Kohli wicket, however, had no bearing on the match as Rohit Sharma stitched important partnerships with KL Rahul(26) and MS Dhoni (34) to guide India to a six-wicket victory.
South Africa’s fielding was widely criticized on Wednesday. Rohit Sharma, who was scored an unbeaten 122, was dropped thrice in his innings.
South Africa also registered an unwanted record of losing a hat-trick of World Cup matches for the first time.
First Published: Jun 06, 2019 10:50 IST