Janneman Malan heaped praises on his opening partner Quinton de Kock after South Africa’s series-clinching 2nd ODI win against India at Boland Park on Friday. At just 29 years of age and having played 54 Tests, Quinton de Kock announced his retirement from the traditional format at the end of the opening Test against India, which the Proteas lost by 113 runs at SuperSport Park.
Quinton de Kock (78) and Janneman Malan (91) rose to the occasion with the bat as South Africa defeated India by seven wickets in the second ODI to gain an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. For South Africa, Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram remained unbeaten on 37 each.
Janneman Malan Reckons Quinton de Kock Made It Easy For Him At The Start
Some outstanding spin bowling from Tabraiz Shamsi, Keshav Maharaj, and Aiden Markram helped restrict India to 287/6 in the first innings, despite a typically vibrant 85 from Rishabh Pant seemingly having set the away side up for a far bigger total.
Quinton de Kock set the standard in the stiff run chase with an early salvo that put the Proteas ahead of the required rate, with each of the South African top five contributing as they reached the target with 11 balls remaining.
“Quinton made it easy for me at the start,” said Malan in the virtual press conference after the match. “I just tried to give him as much strike as possible because I just wanted to let him go do his thing. He played a couple of ridiculous shots, which are good signs.”
“He is one of the best batters in the world when he gets going, so it was good to bat with him,” he added.
Talking about facing Indian bowlers, Malan shared his experience as batter said: “Guys like me who have seen them bowling at IPL and international level. So it was good to go out against them. You need more time to face guys like those because you need to get the rhythm of each one of them. So it was a kinda challenge for me to do it in the first and second game.”
“It’s obviously not the best bowling conditions but they are a world-class team and bowlers so it’s good to have a challenge from them,” the 25-year-old added.
Wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant registered a career-best 85 off 71 balls as India managed to set up a 288-run target against South Africa. But, South African openers Janneman Malan and Quinton de Kock added 132 for the opening wicket as the Proteas eased to victory by seven wickets.
Riding on half-centuries from Janneman Malan and Quinton de Kock, South Africa beat India by 7 wickets in the second One Day Internationals on Friday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in three-match series. Janneman Malan (91) missed his well-deserved century by 9 runs, while Quinton de Kock scored 78 runs as South Africa chased down the stiff target of 288 with 11 balls to spare. It was a fourth back-to-back defeat for India on this tour.
Janneman Malan Happy For South Africa Having Good Partnerships In The Ongoing ODI Series
The partnerships among South African batters are one of the major factors in Proteas’ successes in this series.
Shedding light on that, Malan said: “We were happy to have two hundred in the previous game, and maybe we could have had me or Quinny getting to a hundred, but I’m very proud of the partnerships we had.”
“We had a hundred partnership and two 50 partnerships, which means the batters are coming in with good plans and good intent and building nice partnerships to make it easier for each other. It’s a very good sign,” he added.
Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen’s twin centuries helped South Africa beat India by 31 runs in the first match of the three-match series at Boland Park, Paarl.
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma (110) and Rassie van der Dussen (129*) stitched together South Africa’s second-highest partnership (204) against India and helped the hosts reach 296 for 4 at the end of their innings. Chasing 297 on a sluggish pitch, the visitors only managed 265/8 in their 50 overs.