Quinton de Kock's 7,000 ODI Runs: Joining South Africa's Elite Batting Legends

The batting stalwart, who has made a comeback to ODIs in this series after reversing his retirement from the format, scored his third back-to-back fifty-plus score of this series against Pakistan, hitting 53 in 70 balls, with six fours and a six.

In the previous two matches, he had managed 63 on his ODI return and 123* in the second ODI.

Now in 158 matches and innings, de Kock has scored 7,009 runs at an average of 46.72, with a strike rate of 96.47, including 22 centuries and 32 fifties and a best score of 178. Having overtaken former South African captain Graeme Smith (6,989 runs in 196 ODIs with 10 centuries), he is the fifth-highest run-getter of all time in ODIs for the Proteas.

All-rounder Jacques Kallis is the top run-getter in ODIs for the Proteas, scoring 11,150 runs in 323 matches at an average of 45.11, with 17 centuries and 86 fifties in 309 innings and best score of 139, followed by AB de Villiers (9,427 runs in 223 matches at an average of 54.17 with 25 centuries) and Hashim Amla (8,113 runs in 181 matches at an average of 49.46, with 27 centuries and 39 fifties) who complete the top-three.

Coming to the match, a series decider, SA won the toss and opted to bat first. The pair of young Lhuan-dre Pretorius (39 in 45 balls, with four boundaries and a six) and de Kock formed their third-successive partnership of fifty runs or more in the series, starting things off with a 72-run stand.

However, the spin duo of Abrar Ahmed (4/27) and Mohammed Nawaz (2/31) and pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi (2/18) dismantled the rest of the line-up, preventing them from reaching the 20-run mark as the Proteas were bundled out for 143 runs in 37.5 overs.

- ANI