QdK’s borrowed bat does the business

QdK's borrowed bat does the business

Quinton de Kock arrived for the second T20I against West Indies in Centurion without any of his own bats, having left them at his home in Knysna, 1,000 kilometres away.

"I don't know how to answer that question," De Kock said. "I felt a bit stupid when I noticed. I forgot them."

Before the match, he borrowed a bat from teammate Dewald Brevis. "I just pulled one out of Brevi's bag. I said, 'I'm going to use this one today.' Brevi said, 'That's fine. It's a good bat for you because it's left-handed.'"

De Kock scored 115 off 49 balls, with almost three-quarters of his runs in boundaries. His innings was key to South Africa chasing down 222 to win by seven wickets with 15 balls to spare, clinching the series.

On the borrowed bat, De Kock said, "It's going back to Brevis. I didn't enjoy it. The weight was out of place for me. It's for youngsters who swing hard."

Thursday's century was only his second in 100 T20I innings. He finished as the leading run-scorer in this season's SA20 without a century, while Brevis was second, 20 runs behind, including a 101 in the final.

De Kock and Brevis are set to be key players for South Africa in the upcoming T20 World Cup.