De Kock fires after volunteering to open

Shortly after the South African team were told Dean Elgar would not be able to play the second Test against New Zealand, Quinton de Kock volunteered to replace him.

“I just thought let me just do it. I didn’t see anybody else doing that job,” de Kock said.

Although South Africa could have used either Stiaan van Zyl or Temba Bavuma, de Kock thought the 16 times he has opened in first-class cricket would stand him in good stead to do it in Centurion, and take the heat of a team-mate who had tried and failed to do it before. “I have a bit of experience at opening in red-ball cricket. I thought that since Stiaan has had a go, let me just rather go there and do it and do what I can for the team,” de Kock said.

Despite scoring 82 runs and featuring in the first century opening stand since 2013, when asked if it is something he would consider doing again, de Kock said one word: “No.”

He admitted he found it difficult to stay defensive for as long as he did, although he was pleasantly surprised by his own restraint, which had him see off 79 dot balls. “Opening in Test cricket is …

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