Quinton de Kock at the receiving end following Durban dismissal

The first ODI didn’t turn out to be a good one for the Proteas. Virat Kohli’s masterclass coupled with the brilliance of the spin twins ensured that India comfortably breezed past the Proteas. The South Africans were without the services of AB De Villiers and recently the skipper Faf Du Plessis was also ruled out for the remainder of the series. However, many are still harping around Quinton de Kock and the manner in which he threw his wicket away in the first ODI in Durban.

Bizzare wicket

Quinton De Kock hasn’t had a great start to 2018. His was poor in the test series as his contributions were close to none. The wicketkeeper was short of confidence heading into the first ODI which was evident in his manner of play at the Kingsmead. Usually, De Kock takes the Proteas to flying starts with his aggressive approach. However, he scored just 34 runs in 49 deliveries and did not look comfortable in his short stay.

Though De Kock was looking uncomfortable, he managed to stay in the middle. He mistimed a flick off a Yuzvendra Chahal delivery at the end of the 15th over and the ball struck his right leg. It seemed as if De Kock gave the decision even before the umpire as he started to walk off that probably prompted the umpire to raise his finger.

Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar, on SuperSport commentary, politely tried to explain De Kock’s folly by saying: “I guess he was still in a negative frame of mind after his Test series struggles (with the blade).” Much to the dismay of De Kock, DRS later revealed that the ball was clearly missing the leg stump. Interestingly, du Plessis was at the other end who did not seem to stop De Kock who seemed to be in a hurry to leave the field.

Former SA captain Shaun Pollock, meanwhile, observed: “It is not often you get trapped in front and just turn around and get going.” De Kock may just be one inning away from regaining his form but such mistakes must be avoided. The Proteas fell way short of a competitive score and the men in blue hammered them easily.