Hashim Amla once again breaks Virat Kohli's record

South Africa beat Bangladesh by 10 wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Both the openers Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock scored their respective hundreds and remained unbeaten to register their highest ODI score without losing any wicket while chasing. Bangladesh batted first and posted their highest score against the Proteas in ODIs- 278, with Mushfiqur Rahim scoring an unbeaten 110*.

But the South African duo made no fuss about the chase and went about their business. Amla remained not out on 110* while De Kock scored 168*.  The Proteas wicket-keeper batsman equaled Virat Kohli’s record of ‘ joint second-fastest’ to reach 13 ODI tons. On the other hand, Amla broke Kohli’s record of fastest to achieve 26 hundreds. Amla achieved the feat in just 154 innings. The Indian skipper took 166 innings to register his 26th.

On a record breaking spree

Amla had earlier broken Kohli’s record for the fastest batsman to reach the 7000 run-mark. The Proteas opener took just 150 innings compared to Kohli’s 169. Amla also holds the record for the fastest to reach 6000, 5000, 4000, 3000 and 2000 runs, having got to the landmarks in 123, 101, 81, 57 and 40 innings respectively.

After being adjudged the man of the match for scoring his 13th hundred at the age of just 24, De Kock said “I was quite excited to get back out there. They didn’t need me in the Test matches – I was just happy to get back to doing some batting. I think it did differ [between innings]. When we bowled it was quite slow. As the sun started beating, it got a bit flatter, started skidding on a little more. I’m just happy to contribute to the team. Excited to just get out there and bat, let alone score runs or anything else. I think I’m a calming influence on him [when asked if Amla is a calming influence]. It’s always good to bat with him, it’s a privilege.”