Quinton de Kock Scores Third Hundred In a Row: 135, 106, 101

20 Year old Quinton de Kock became only the fifth ODI international player to score three ODI hundreds in a row, joining two Pakistan players, Addas and Anwar, as well as South Africans AB de Villiers and Herschelle Gibbs in the record books. His 101 at Centurion helped the Proteas to reach another formidable total of 301 for 8. The fact that he achieved this record against the current number one ODI team in the world makes it an even bigger achievement...!

AB de Villiers (109) scored a brilliant century as well and with under pressure batsmen David Muller hitting a quick,and aggressive 53 off 34 balls, the Proteas gave the Indian cricket team something to seriously think about. 

Test Squad Announced For 2 Tests vs India & The Sports-Man's Perfect SA Test Team...!

Test Squad for 2 Tests vs India

 Graeme Smith (Cape Cobras, captain), AB de Villiers (Titans, vice-captain), Hashim Amla (Cape Cobras), JP Duminy (Cape Cobras), Faf du Plessis (Titans), Dean Elgar (Knights), Imran Tahir(Highveld Lions), Jacques Kallis (Cape Cobras), Rory Kleinveldt (Cape Cobras), Morné Morkel (Titans), Alviro Petersen (Highveld Lions), Robin Peterson (Cape Cobras), Vernon Philander (Cape Cobras), Dale Steyn(Cape Cobras), Thami Tsolekile (Highveld Lions).

The Sports-Man has to be honest when he says that from the squad named above he cannot select his "perfect" Proteas and South African test team for the short two match series against India. I will reveal why just now...!

While I can understand why the selectors have stood by the squad that has performed very well of late, I do feel that the selectors have to be open to change, especially when some special young talent knocks extremely hard on the door. From the squad that was announced today, The Sports-Man would select the following line-up, but in brackets and in Green, is my "perfect" team I would send in against India:

1. Graeme Smith   (G. Smith - nobody can argue with our National captain's pedigree and quality!)

2. Alviro Petersen (A. Peterson probably just deserves to be in the team right now)

3. Hashim Amla   (H. Amla selects himself because of his non-stop, ROCK-solid performances)

4. Jacques Kallis (J. Kallis - although cold of late, you cannot leave the legend out - he will come good!)

5. AB de Villiers   (AB - what a cricketer, but in my "perfect" team he won't be the WC)

6. JP Duminy   (JP - he may be a little hot & cold at times, but he still deserves his spot)

7. Faf du Plessis  (Quinton de Kock(WC) - I like Faf, but he needs confidence & De Kock is on fire - get                                                                                                                              him into the action!)

8. Vernon Philander  (V. Philander - another automatic choice in my team!)

9. Dale Steyn   (D. Steyn - Number 1 bowler in the world - need I say more?)

10. Morne Morkel   ( Morkel - Together with Steyn & Philander, our best 3 seam & pace bowlers)

11. Imran Tahir   (Tahir - after his form in Dubai, he deserves his spot as the first-choice SA spin bowler)

Proteas Batted First In 2nd ODI vs India, Durban - Full Scorecard...

Another century by awesome youngster Quinton de Kock (118), as well as a century by opening partner and senior batsmen, Hashim Amla (100), took South Africa to a challenging total of  280/6 (49 overs - reduced due to wet outfield). The two exciting openers were involved in another huge opening stand of 194 this time around.

If the batsmen that followed, like AB and David Miller especially, did not fail with the bat, the Proteas' total would have been much higher for sure. You have to ask yourself how many more chances somebody like Miller is going to get?

If the South African bowlers bowl the way they did at the Wanders on Thursday, the Indian cricket team is once again going to struggle to surpass this total. A second ODI victory for South Africa would mean a series win over the current number one ODI team in the world.

• South Africa Innings
• Batsman

  R(B)

  4s

  6s

  SR

  de Kock(wk)	106(118)	9	0	89.83
  c Rohit b Ashwin

  Amla	100(117)	8	0	85.47
  c Dhoni b Shami

  de Villiers(c)	3(4)	0	0	75.00
  st Dhoni b R Jadeja

  Duminy	26(29)	2	0	89.66
  run out (Umesh/Dhoni)

  D Miller	0(3)	0	0	0.00
  lbw b Shami

  Kallis	10(13)	1	0	76.92
  b Shami

  McLaren	12(5)	1	1	240.00
  not out

  Philander	14(5)	3	0	280.00
  not out

• Extras 9

  (b 1, lb 2, w 6)

• Total: 280

  (49 ovrs, 6 Wkts)  RR 5.71

Proteas vs India ODI: South Africa Record a Resounding Victory

• South Africa won by 141 runs

• RSA - 358/4 (50.0 Ovs)

  IND - 217-all out (41.0 Ovs)

South Africa's national cricket team, the Proteas managed to beat India by a massive 141 runs after they sent a very strong message to the visitors with a confident batting display after losing the toss of the first ODI at the Wanderers, and was asked to bat first on a typical greenish-looking "Bullring" pitch. Man of the Match Quinton De Kock (135), Hashim Amla ( 65), AB de Villiers (77 ), and JP Duminy (59* ) cashed in on the run-feast. 

With the ball, Steyn (3/15) and McClaren (3/49) were the main destroyers. 

South Africa vs India Update: First ODI from Wanderers, Johannesburg

Information/reports supplied by http://m4.cricbuzz.com

Teams:

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma

South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers(c), Jean-Paul Duminy, David Miller, Ryan McLaren, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Dhoni: 'We are looking to bowl first, we have still not figured out how to bowl with a wet ball. We have made the most of whatever practise we could manage. Most of the players have played in such conditions before, this will give a lot of exposure for our youngsters. We are looking forward to a nice contest. Same team that we played in the last match against West Indies.'

India have won the toss and have opted to field

Pitch report:

'There is a good grass covering on the pitch. It is a kind of wicket that one might expect in a Test match. There will be a bit of movement for the fast bowlers. The captain winning the toss will definitely like to bowl first and restrict the opposition to a low total', reckons Shaun Pollock.

Team News: 

The South African team has received a big boost with news emerging that Steyn and Kallis have been declared fit for the opening ODI after recovering from minor injuries. With both these seniors returning, all-rounder Ryan McLaren, despite being South Africa's highest wicket-taker this year, may find himself out of the eleven. Meanwhile, India are unlikely to make too many changes to the team that played against West Indies. However, Umesh Yadav, considering his pace and the South African conditions, might get to play ahead of Mohit Sharma.

Preview by Gokul Gopal

MS Dhoni reckoned that board politics and the shortened South Africa tour will not lead to any tension on the field but India will face some heat and are likely to be welcomed by a hostile crowd at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg when they take on the hosts in the first of the three One-Dayers. The top-ranked ODI side will be looking to further strengthen their position at the top of the table and register their first series win in South Africa. Meanwhile, the Proteas, who are currently ranked fifth, will be aiming for a clean-sweep that will help them move up to the third spot along with England.

Head to head:

South Africa, who have played 67 ODIs against India so far, have won 40 times and lost 25 games while two matches yielded no results. This puts the Proteas' win percentage against India at 59.70 while it gets even better for South Africa at home. With 19 wins and 5 losses out of the 25 games at home against India, South Africa's win percentage is an impressive 76.

Numbers of Note:

11: The number of runs Graeme Smith requires to reach the mark of 7000 in ODI cricket. He will become the third South African with 7000 or more in case he gets the required number of runs.

5: The number of wickets R Ashwin needs to reach the mark of 100 ODI wickets. In case he gets five or more in this game, he will become the joint fourth fastest Indian along with Javagal Srinath to the 100-wicket mark.

3: The number of dismissals MS Dhoni needs to get to the 300-dismissals mark. He will become the first Indian and the fourth player to do so in case he gets the required number of dismissals.

Quotes:

I have had a look at the wicket and there's a lot of grass on it. It hasn't seen a lot of sun yet. But it should play the same over the course of 100 overs. Whether we bat first or second, or bowl first or second, I am not too fussed about that: AB de Villiers.

What we have seen in ODIs here is that the pitches provide something for the fast bowlers but at the same time, if you are a batsman who likes the ball coming on to the bat, this is the place to play. Johannesburg can be a high-scoring venue: MS Dhoni.