Quinton de Kock rescues Proteas in SA v Eng Test match 1st day
He said: 'Dwaine was actually calming me down. He came out very calm and he said to me that I mustn’t worry.'
Quinton de Kock is expected to stay in the number five batting position for the two-Test series with Pakistan. Picture: Getty Images
Quinton de Kock once again rescued the Proteas on Thursday and shared vital lower-order partnerships with Dwaine Pretorius and Vernon Philander, and then said it was the debutant Pretorius who had actually kept him calm as he made his way to 95 and went past 700 Test runs in the year.
Only six other batsmen have scored as many runs as De Kock this year in Test cricket, and his value batting at six or seven for South Africa was once again clear as he lifted the home side from 111 for five to 277 for nine after England had sent them in to bat.
The 30-year-old Pretorius made a determined 33 as he and De Kock added 87 for the sixth wicket and Philander then put on 47 for the seventh wicket with De Kock, batting through to stumps on 28 not out.
It was a testing day for batsmen with a green-tinged pitch offering assistance throughout to the bowlers, and De Kock began his innings in streaky fashion.
De Kock said after the close of play on the first day: “Dwaine was actually calming me down. He came out very calm and he said to me that I mustn’t worry, I must just keep fighting and the runs will come. But that’s just his nature, he’s a very calm guy and having him in the team brings a good balance.”
De Kock peppered his excellent 128-ball innings with 14 boundaries and said, given the tough conditions for batting on a spicy pitch, it was important to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
“It’s not a bad score and if we can get to 300 then that will be challenging because the pitch is quite tough. I just tried to get myself into good positions, show intent, keep my head in the game and compete. Once I found my rhythm, things started to happen. We wanted to try and keep our intensity, keep ticking over because you don’t want to get blocked up in situations like that.
“When the England bowlers get on top then it’s really tough to score runs, so we wanted to make sure we kept the momentum, that was our mindset. There was a bit in the pitch all day and the game is 50/50 at the moment because I think the wicket will get more difficult. We’ll have to make sure when we bowl that we keep the pressure on,” the 27-year-old De Kock said.
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