'Mad Hitting' - Quinton de Kock sets Twitter ablaze with record-shattering century against KKR

Lucknow Super Giants opener Quinton de Kock brought up his second IPL century in the game against Kolkata Knight Riders in Match 66 of IPL 2022. The left-hander played some breathtaking shots on his way to a scintillating century and the last hundred had come for him in IPL 2016 for the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals), six years back.

His celebration was quite emotional as well and he went down to the ground straightaway to acknowledge the special moment and punched in the air, which isn’t his normal mode of celebrating. It also showed how much the century meant to the wicketkeeper-batter who had to undergo a lot in the last six months or so with his retirement from Test cricket and also the controversies around reluctance for no-racism measures as well.

De Kock registers the highest individual score of IPL 2022

De Kock brought up his century with a square cut against Andre Russell in the backward point area and he remained unbeaten on 140 off just 70 balls to take his side to a mammoth 210-run total. The 29-year old hit ten sixes and as many fours in his superlative innings and KKR paid heavily for dropping him on more than one occasion in the field. De Kock took a special liking towards Tim Southee in the end and smashed him for three consecutive sixes in the 19th over for an exciting finish.

With this being a must-win game for KKR, the Shreyas Iyer-led side has failed to get their act together in the first half of the innings, and they will need to chase down the score to remain in contention for the playoffs. De Kock, with his fantastic knock, shattered a lot of records in the process, including going past Jos Buttler’s top score in the season.

De Kock’s unbeaten 140 is also the third-highest individual score now in IPL history after Chris Gayle’s 175* and Brendon McCullum’s 158*. Meanwhile, LSG skipper KL Rahul remained unbeaten on 68 off 51 balls and the pair registered the first-ever 200-plus opening partnership in IPL history.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to Quinton de Kock’s knock: