Quinton de Kock gave a flying start to LSG’s innings [P/C: iplt20.com]
Aakash Chopra has lauded Quinton de Kock for playing a belligerent knock after being responsible for KL Rahul’s run-out in the Lucknow Super Giants‘ (LSG) IPL 2022 win against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
Rahul was run out without facing a ball when De Kock called him for a non-existent single and then sent him back too late for him to regain his ground. The Proteas wicketkeeper-batter, however, made up for his mistake by smashing 50 runs off just 29 deliveries.
While reviewing the LSG-KKR game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra picked De Kock’s knock as the game-defining performance. He explained:
“The credit for Lucknow’s win, there will be talk about the bowlers – no doubt they did very well, Avesh Khan got the Player of the Match, Jason Holder had three wickets in his account, there was no bowler who was not successful – but in my opinion the match protector was Quinton de Kock. You lost your partner for zero because of your mistake, because you said ‘yes’ and then ‘thank you very much’.”
The cricketer-turned-commentator highlighted that De Kock’s knock made the Pune surface look more placid than it actually was. Chopra observed:
“When you saw the surface, it seemed it had pace and bounce, it was not easy to bat but till the time Quinton de Kock was playing, he showed that it was very easy. 50 off 29 balls – it was cracking batting.”
De Kock scored his runs at a strike rate of 172.41, with the help of four fours and three sixes. He strung together a rollicking 71-run second-wicket partnership with Deepak Hooda after Rahul’s early departure.
“Till the time he was there, it seemed 200 was also possible” – Aakash Chopra on Quinton de Kock’s blazing knock
Quinton de Kock scored his third half-century of IPL 2022 [P/C: iplt20.com]
Aakash Chopra added that a couple of catches during KKR’s innings completed a perfect day for Quinton de Kock. He said:
“Till the time he (De Kock) was there, it seemed 200 was also possible but as soon as he got, we realized that the pitch was very difficult. He took catches also after that, so his job was perfect.”
The 44-year-old also praised Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis and Jason Holder for taking LSG to a formidable score. Chopra elaborated:
“Deepak Hooda has been absolutely sensational. He is a daring player, he likes hitting a lot, never takes a backward step. Stoinis scored 28 runs but he got to play only 14 balls. Holder scored 13 runs off four balls, he hit two sixes and you reached 176, which I thought was a phenomenal score on the surface.”
The 177-run target proved too much for the Kolkata Knight Riders. They were bowled out for 101 to lose the match by a massive 75-run margin.
