Bush guy De Kock is vital for the Blitz

“I BELONG on the Highveld and in the bush. There is nothing like that here. There are just cold oceans and big mountains. And one or two nice wine farms,” joked Quinton de Kock when asked if he could permanently relocate to Cape Town. The charms of the Mother City may be lost on De Kock, but the opener has certainly wormed himself into the hearts of the Newlands patrons through his performances for the Cape Town Blitz in this season’s inaugural Mzansi Super League.

De Kock is currently just three runs shy of the top run-scorer in the tournament – Jozi Stars’ Rassie van der Dussen (410 runs) – even though he has played three games less.

It is for this reason that the Blitz’s chances in Sunday’s final almost singularly rest with De Kock. It is not only the 25-year-old’s runs that the Blitz depend on, especially with their misfiring middle-order, but also the impetus he creates at the top of the innings.

His 407 runs at an average of 67.83 have come at the amazing strike-rate of 174.67. Only Jozi Stars’ Australian all-rounder Dan Christian has a higher strike-rate (194.05) among the top 15 batsmen in the MSL T20. Often, though, the key to De Kock’s success lies in his mindset at the time, and not ability. It has been noticeable with the Proteas, too. Often De Kock looks disinterested in “meaningless” matches and his performances suffer as a result.

But there’s no doubt a final in front of what is expected to be the biggest crowd of the tournament will get De Kock’s juices flowing. It is even better in the interest of the Blitz that the Proteas’ wicket-keeper has enjoyed a couple of days back in Johannesburg to recharge before returning to Cape Town to prepare for Sunday’s showpiece. “I think we were all a little bit tired with the back-to-back games, so for us to qualify for the final last week already has allowed us to rest up a couple of days which was much-needed for the whole team,” he said. “It was nice to have a little break, but now we come back hungry to get the show on the road again.” Coach Ashwell Prince’s comments after last Sunday’s deadrubber loss to the Durban Heat will no doubt inspire De Kock.

“It is quite simple we sat here two weeks ago and lost two warm-up games to Paarl Rocks. At the end of the day, games that don’t matter, don’t matter. Sunday’s game will matter. It is about turning up when it matters,” Prince said.

Sunday certainly “matters” and it is games that maverick players such as De Kock are made for. The final starts at 3.30pm at Newlands.