South Africa vs New Zealand 2017: 3rd Test, Day 2, 5 Talking Points

#2 de Kock sizzles but falls in the 90s yet again

de Kock was at his offensive best on day 2

Quinton de Kock once again proved why he is one of the best wicket-keeper batsmen going around in world cricket by smashing a valuable 90 after walking in at No. 7. The dynamic batsman was into his groove pretty early, taking on the seam bowlers in a positive manner.

He slog swept Jeetan Patel, his nemesis in the ODIs, onto the mid-wicket stands and then continued to pull and drive Wagner and co. He fought with the tail yet again to pull South Africa out of a hole before falling agonisingly short of a deserved hundred.

de Kock has three hundreds and eight fifties in his career thus far, a sign that he hasn't had a good conversion rate. This may seem surprising for someone who has the best conversion rate in the world in ODIs but he is an opener in that format. Battling with the tail, he hasn't quite managed to match that feat but has been sensational.

He has five scores above 80 in his half-centuries, including two 90s in this series. The keeper would surely be looking to pile up on that hundreds list.