Kolkata: Former South African captain Quinton de Kock has retired from ODI cricket with his team's defeat in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 semi-final against Australia at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday.
Quinton de Kock had announced his retirement prior to the tournament that his campaign in India would be his last appearance for the Proteas in ODI cricket. And he played his last match at the semi-final stage after a phenomenal effort throughout the marquee tournament.
The 30-year-old amassed 594 runs with an exceptional average of 64.22 in 10 matches becoming the highest run-getter for Proteas in the ODI World Cups, with only Virat Kohli scoring more runs than De Kock. He also became the first South African player to slam four centuries in a single edition of the tournament. He also now has the joint second-most hundreds in the marquee tournament with former Sri Lankan batter Kumara Sangakkara.
de Kock also became the first wicketkeeper to score 500+ runs with 20 dismissals behind the wicket including 19 catches and 1 stumping in the history of the World Cups.
Unfortunately for De Kock, he couldn't do the wonders in his final appearance out in the middle with the bat and in the field. De Kock's battling start came to an abrupt end when he tried to get back momentum towards his side and skied a catch off Josh Hazlewood to end his ODI career with a 14-ball three.
The left-hand batter amassed 6770 runs at an average of 45.74 and a strike rate of 96.64, setting the standard for South Africa and racking up 21 centuries in his ODI career. He also captained the Proteas in all three formats of the game but was unable to perform up to expectations in ODIs and Tests.