Quinton de Kock smacked his sixth ODI century against Australia last week and equalled the a unique record with Upul Tharanga. Varun Arora looks at the statistics and finds out batsmen with most centuries before the age of 22.
Quinton de Kock has nurtured the uncanny habit of scoring tons. The 21-year-old, De Kock raced to his sixth One-Day International (ODI) ton only in a matter of 35 ODIs. It was not long ago when he made his international debut in early 2013, but he has cemented a regular spot in the South Africa team. He completed his sixth ton when he scored 107 off 128 balls in the fifth ODI against Australia played at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) last week. He carried on with ornate approach and decorated his ton with 14 boundaries. The striking feature of his batting was his exquisite footwork. With his ton at Sydney, de Kock also jumped to the career best seventh position in International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings. He was also awarded the Man of the Match Award for his special effort.
De Kock is also the fourth-highest scorer for South Africa in ODIs this year. Till now, he has amassed 741 runs from 19 matches with an average of 41.16. Hashim Amla is the highest scorer for South Africa followed by AB De Villiers and Faf Du Plessis. In the year 2014, de Kock has got two hundreds and four fifties.
Following is the list of batsmen 21 years of age or younger with most centuries in ODIs:
Name
Team
Period
M
I
Ave
SR
100s
50s
Quinton de Kock
South Africa
2013-2014
35
35
43.58
88.4
6
4
Upul Tharanga
Sri Lanka
2005-2007
40
37
37.56
75.3
6
5
Shahriar Nafees
Bangladesh
2005-2007
47
47
35.48
69.6
4
7
Paul Stirling
Ireland
2008-2012
38
38
39.13
96.2
4
6
Sachin Tendulkar
India
1989-1995
97
94
36.98
81.2
4
21
Anamul Haque
Bangladesh
2012-2014
24
22
35.63
70.4
3
2
Virat Kohli
India
2008-2010
35
32
44.46
81.1
3
8
Salman Butt
Pakistan
2004-2006
33
33
30.06
71.3
3
3
Tamim Iqbal
Bangladesh
2007-2011
95
95
29.44
79.7
3
17
Ahmed Shehzad
Pakistan
2009-2013
32
32
28.12
65.9
2
4
Dinesh Chandimal
Sri Lanka
2010-2011
14
14
35.54
80.3
2
1
David Gower
England
1978-1979
8
7
81
83.7
2
1
Ijaz Ahmed
Pakistan
1986-1990
76
69
23.67
83.7
2
6
Inzamam-ul-Haq
Pakistan
1991-1992
10
9
49.66
77.7
2
2
Mahela Jaywardena
Sri Lanka
1998-1999
23
23
27
76.1
2
2
Irfan Karim
Kenya
2011-2014
9
9
44
75.9
2
1
Ricky Ponting
Australia
1995-1996
33
33
30.96
69.1
2
5
Suresh Raina
India
2005-2008
55
46
34
82.9
2
8
Shahid Afridi
Pakistan
1996-2002
142
138
24.55
99.5
2
19
Shakib Al Hasan
Bangladesh
2006-2009
62
60
33.31
70.3
2
10
Shoaib Malik
Pakistan
1999-2004
63
50
26.67
73.9
2
3
Kane Williamson
New Zealand
2010-2012
29
27
34.6
75
2
3
Sri Lankan opener, Upul Tharanga also scored six tons under the age of 22. Tharanga was immaculate for Sri Lanka early in his career as he thrashed tonnes of runs. Surprisingly, de Kock is the only South African in this list. De Kock has a long career ahead and can go a fare margin for South Africa if he carries in this fashion.
(Varun Arorais a reporter with CricketCountry. He started as a medium-fast bowler, converted to an opening batsman but finally settled with his passion of writing about the game. His Twitter handle is @varunjgd)
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