A record-breaking chase by South Africa against West Indies in Centurion | SA vs WI

A maiden T20 International(T20I) century by Quinton de Kock supported a record-breaking chase by the Proteas to tie the KFC T20I series against the West Indies at 1-1 on Sunday at SuperSport Park in Centurion.

When the hosts pulled off a spectacular chase of 259, the most ever seen in an international game, they reached the target with seven balls to spare. The left-hander hammered exactly 100 balls (44 balls, 9 fours, and 8 sixes), the second fastest by a South African and joint-sixth fastest ever.

Along the way, De Kock also hit 50 in just 15 balls, breaking his previous record of 17 balls set against England in Durban in 2020. This made him the fastest Protea to reach that milestone.

Johnson Charles had gone even faster before, reaching 100 in just 39 balls and going on to score 118 (46 balls, 10 fours, and 11 sixes), which enabled the tourists reach 258 for five.

The South Africans, though, won what turned out to be easily, ensuring that the series will go to a conclusion in Johannesburg on Tuesday, despite that total failing to deter them.

All the bowlers were punished in this incredible match, but Kagiso Rabada's four-over spell of one for 39 runs, which came after the home team had won the toss and chosen to bowl first, stood out as the most economical.

A 135-run second wicket stand between Charles and Kyle Mayers (51 off 27 balls, 5 fours, 4 sixes), which put their team on 137 for one just before the halfway point, cost the visitors Brandon King (1) early when he was bowled by Wayne Parnell (2/43). Despite the fact that the latter later left and was replaced by Nicholas Pooran (2) and Marco Jansen (3/52), Johnson maintained the carnage to rank as the quickest person from his nation to achieve three digits overall.

He was bowled over by Jansen, the bowler with the most picks, but captain Rovman Powell (28 off 19 balls), Romario Shepherd (41 off 18 balls), and Odean Smith (11*) led their team to a SuperSport Park record-breaking total.

De Kock and Reeza Hendricks, who also contributed to the spectacular chase by scoring 68 off only 28 balls, gave South Africa's reply a head start (11 fours, 2 sixes). Together, they scored 152 runs, which ranks fourth all-time for South Africa. They also achieved the highest-ever T20I total of 149 runs in the first 10 overs and a remarkable 102 in the powerplay.

The 11th over saw the eventual fall of De Kock, but there was still a lot of work to be done. Rilee Rossouw kept things moving with 16 off just four balls before collapsing alongside Hendricks to put the game's outcome in jeopardy.

However, captain Aiden Markram maintained his composure with a remarkably composed 38 not out off 21 balls to lead their team to win with more than an over to spare, assisted by Heinrich Klassen (16* off 7 balls).

Earlier, on March 12, 2006, South Africa set a record for the highest run chase in One Day International (ODI) cricket by getting 438 runs to overtake Australia's staggering 434.