Man of Steel

QUINTON DE KOCK:

Quinton de Kock was considered a prodigy even before he made his ODI debut for the South Africa cricket team in January 2013. The wicket-keeper batsman scored three consecutive hundreds against India at home in December that year to cement his place as the partner of Hashim Amla at the top of South Africa's batting order. But an untimely injury last November had put his World Cup in doubt, only to be included on condition of a speedy recovery. The left-hander did well to recover from the injury but was dreadfully short of form, managing only 53 runs in the first seven matches of the World Cup. He was given probably one last chance against Sri Lanka yesterday and he stepped up on the big occasion. He hit a sublime 78 not out – filled with glorious cover drives – to take his side to a comprehensive nine-wicket victory.